Page 31 - Amarillo Senior Link Magazine 2020 Spring - Online Magazine

Korean War

Walden farm had only had one itself for one
year.

The luck of a draw sent Walden to Japan;
he drew the high card, sending his fellow
sailor to Guam. Electricians were needed in
both places, and the yeoman had left it up
to the young men to decide who would go
where. Bill was sent to Atsugi Air Base, one of
only two that MacArthur had left standing.
The Seabees were tasked with restoring the
base, and CE2 Bill Walden was in charge of
the telephone system. He oversaw a large
team of mostly Japanese employees of the
Nippon Telephone Company. “They were
superfine people.” Only six years after WWII
had ended, Bill found “no resentment”. They
made “lots and lots and lots of friends” in his
two years in Japan.

The tractor-driving farm boy was often called
over to the heavy equipment division. Since
Bill was one of only a few who knew how to
run a level, he and another Seabee were sent
to clear land for an orphanage. “Curwood,
(the other SeaBee) became one of my best
friends in the world.”

An accident injured Bill’s hand on one
occasion, and when he developed blood
poisoning, he was sent to Yokohama Naval
Hospital. Antibiotics were pretty new and
didn’t seem to be working. Fortunately, the rebuild. Concrete blocks were being made out of seashells,
home remedy he had learned on the farm was and structures were being erected. Bill’s job was to draw up
just the antidote he needed. After treating the schematics for the wiring system that had been installed
himself by soaking his hand in salt water, across the island.
the hand healed. However, the sight of all Bill was discharged at the rank of CE2, and he returned to
the wounded soldiers coming out of Korea, school at Texas Tech. He finally graduated in 1959. He met
many missing arms and legs, left a dramatic “the most wonderful girl in the world” and likes to say that
impression on Bill. "To this day I won’t watch he “married four girls at once” because Norma already had
a war movie. I saw all I ever wanted to see." three daughters (ages 3 to 8). Their family was completed
when they had a son shortly thereafter.
When his two-year stint in Japan ended, the
sailor was deployed to the Marshall Islands in Bill went back to farming, first in Olton, then in Hereford,
the South Pacific. The Seabees were there to

Amarillo Senior Link 31