SUFFOLK, Va. — Second Lt. William H. Walker never made it to combat. But the Tuskegee Airman, educated in Suffolk and buried there, helped build the foundation of a unit that would go on to make history.
Walker was 24 years old and assigned to the 100th Fighter Squadron of the 332nd Fighter Group, the unit that would later earn fame as the Red Tails, the first Black military aviators to fly combat missions for the U.S. Army Air Forces.
Craig Huntly, a Tuskegee Airman historian whose uncle served in the same squadron as Walker, described him as someone who stood out from the start.
"He was a real lively character; he was a good pilot my uncle said what you call a hot shot pilot," Huntly said.
Walker was born in Georgia but was educated in East Suffolk Public Schools in what was then Nansemond County. Nicknamed "Wild Bill Walker," he was described as personable and was considered one of the original combat pilots of the 332nd Fighter Group.
"Had he gotten overseas he would've went overseas with the initial 332nd Fighter Group and he was certainly one of the original combat pilots of the 332 Fighter Group," Huntly said.
Two years before the 332nd Fighter Group deployed to Italy, Walker was killed while training in Michigan when two aircraft collided mid-air.
"He wasn't the cause of the accident nevertheless another pilot was flying in formation when he didn't see them, which led to him, which led to both of them crashing which was LeRoy S Williams and Bill Walker," Huntly said.
Although Walker never saw combat, historians say his contributions helped open doors for those who came after him.
"The legacy he left behind. He opened the door for so many other individuals to come behind him to go into pilot training let alone the post war effort and integration into the Air Force," Huntly said.
Today, Walker is buried at Oak Lawn Cemetery in Suffolk. More than 80 years after his death, visitors still seek out his gravesite, a reminder that one of the men who helped pave the way for the Red Tails rests in the city he called home.
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