Pfc. Michael Frederick Walker

Sept. 10, 1947 - Jan. 6, 1968

Chico

Another local man with a young child, Mike Walker, was killed in the early days of the Tet Offensive.

A 1965 graduate of Chico High School, Walker worked two years in the mountains for a surveying company before he was drafted in July 1967. The young man was married and fathered a child the same year.

Five months after his induction, in December 1967, Walker was slinging an M-16 in the jungles of Vietnam with the 9th Infantry.

His posthumous Silver Star citation documented his final minutes: Walker and his company, after completing a search and destroy mission against a North Vietnamese base camp, hiked back to the landing zone to be evacuated.

Two helicopters landed safely, but when the third was coming in, the enemy opened fire on it with mortars, small arms, and rocket propelled grenades. The chopper couldn’t land, leaving Walker’s platoon stranded.

Then “a human wave assault of North Vietnamese” attacked the G.l.s. “With complete disregard for his safety, Walker maneuvered other members of his platoon to face them. He personally inflicted heavy losses on the enemy despite suffering several wounds.”

Walker “fought valiantly and effectively.”

Chico News & Review, May 26, 1988

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