499TH BOMB GROUP (VH), 878TH BOMB SQUADRON

AIRCRAFT COMMANDER

AIRCRAFT SERIAL NUMBER

CAPT WILL F LATIMER, JR

42-246644

Tributes to Sgt Walk can be found at

Scott Muselin's Virtual Cemeteries

Honor States

The assistance of the following is appreciated

Roy Wall
Jim Bowman

Scott Muselin
Ed Lawson

Al Schutte
Bob Mann

Unofficial History of the 499th Bomb Group

Air Force Historical Research Agency

Perry Castaneda Map Collection
University of Texas, Austin

POW Research Network Japan

ROSE CREEK, MINNESOTA
AND
ROCK CREEK, IOWA

source : Google Maps

***************************************

The
Coming Home
section was updated on
5 October 2025.
Sgt Walk's burial site is at St John's Lutheran Cemetery
located east of Grafton, Iowa
source:
Cross Plains Lutheran Parish

********************************************

The above map shows the locations where the family lived between 1920 and 1950.

Some of the small towns in this map will be mentioned within these pages.

Sgt Walter Walk was born 21 April 1921 in
Perham Township, Otter Tail County, Minnesota.

His parents were Erwin Otto Walk ( 1897 - 1972 ) and
Edna Lydia Wilde ( 1900 - 1981).
He was the oldest of their five children.

His sister Irene was born in Rock Creek, Iowa, in 1924.

The 1930 Census has the family living in Rock Creek, Iowa, and
by 1935 they had moved back to Nevada, Minnesota.

Sgt Walk's Draft Registration, dated 16 February 1942,
has him living in Rose Creek.

Details of his life are minimal.

A glimpse of his background is in the
Clippings
section.

He enlisted in October 1942 and a complete list of his assignments is in the
Stations
section

Sgt Walk most likely joined the Latimer Crew
in early 1944 at Clovis AAF, New Mexico.

Some details concerning the crew and and their final mission
can be found in the

Latimer Crew
and
73rd Bomb Wing Mission Number 42
sections.

Their B-29 was lost on the 13-14 April 1945 mission to the Tokyo Arsenal.

Sgt Walk was one of six members of the crew who survived the crash.

At an unknown date he was transfered to the
military hospital a short distance from the
Eastern District Kempei Tai Head Quarters.

His death took place on 1 May 1945 at this hospital
and he was buried at the Koishikawa Military Cemetery.

Additional information can be found in the

Recovery

Identification
and
Coming Home

sections

His remains were returned to Iowa on 21 November 1949.
There is no information about his funeral or burial arrangements.

His burial site is close to Grafton , Iowa.

REGISTRATION CARD

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