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| Staff Sergeant George Baxter served in the 369th Bombardment Squadron. He became a prisoner of war and was executed after he escaped and was recaptured. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/98613267/george-baxter-walker http://www.americanairmuseum.com/unit/960 |
George Baxter Walker never had a chance to reach 100 years old. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
Last year I was not able to write a profile everyday from September to November because I was studying for the Certified Financial Planner test (I passed!). I feel my project to honor one U.S. serviceman for each day of the war would be incomplete if I left them off. As I have time, I am going back and adding profiles for the days I missed.
George was born on September 22, 1918 in North Carolina. His parents Emett and Olie were also both born in North Carolina. His father worked as a farmer. George had an older brother and sister and a younger brother and two younger sisters. By 1940 George had completed six years of schooling, moved out and set up a home after marrying Mittie Mattox and got a job as a mill worker. They had one son.
I don't know the circumstances of his joining the army, but by January 1943 he was serving as a military policeman in England. At some point after that he transferred to the Army Air Forces and became a staff sergeant in the 369th Bombardment Squadron, 306th Bombardment Group which was equipped with B-17 Flying Fortresses. The 306th BG was the first American bomb group sent to England (and is the basis for the movie 12 O'Clock High).
On February 3, 1944 Sgt. Walker was one of the crew in B-17G #42-31056 on a bombing mission to Wilhelmshaven. There was no fighter opposition and the bombers dropped their bombs through cloud cover. The crew baled over Germany due to a runaway engine. Sgt. Walker was captured and made a prisoner of war at Stalag Luft VI which housed 9,000 allied airmen. It is located in what is now Lithuania. He managed to escape on April 27, 1944. I am not sure what he had in mind escaping in a location so far from the American lines. Perhaps he felt he could find his way to the Russian lines. He was captured two days later and executed. His gravesite is unknown.
Sgt. Walker was awarded the Bronze Star, but I was not able to find the citation.
His cenotaph memorial is at Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial in Margraten, Netherlands. His widow remarried after his death and died in 2000. His son died in 2006.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
He was my grandfather and over half the information is false and I have documentation to prove it.
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