Late U.S. Army Gen. Walton Walker posthumously received the first award named after a highly decorated Korean War hero Paik Sun-yup in a ceremony Monday that celebrated the 60th anniversary of the alliance between South Korea and the U.S.
His grandson, retired Col. Walton Walker II, received the prize on behalf of his grandfather during the Alliance Night event in Seoul, which was celebrated by South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey ― who are in South Korea for military talks ― as well as American commanders and veterans also attended the reception.
Seoul’s defense ministry created the award named after retired Gen. Paik, a famous Korean War hero, to promote the bilateral alliance forged at the end of the Korean War that ended in a truce in 1953.
The former commander of the U.S. 8th Army is well known for his excellent leadership in defending South Korea against North Korean forces, as well as for his sacrifices during the war.
Shortly after the North Korean military invaded South Korea on June 25, 1950, the U.S. Eighth Army was ordered to intervene and drive the invaders back across the 38th parallel, a line drawn after World War II, to divide Korea between American and Soviet influences.
Due to a lack of resources and personnel in the early days of battle, Walker’s forces suffered heavy losses, but he told his staff not to retreat from where they stood.
When then-U.S. President Harry Truman dispatched reinforcements to Korea, his forces then solidified their defensive position on the southeast part of the Korean Peninsula, dubbed the Pusan Perimeter. His son, Sam Walker, also participated in the battle as a company commander.
Walker was killed in December 1950 in a traffic accident in northern Seoul when his command jeep collided with a civilian truck. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in January 1951.
A U.S. Army base in the southern city of Daegu is named after the U.S. general in tribute to his service in South Korea during a critical time.
Seoul’s defense ministry said it will annually select one U.S.
personnel considered to have contributed to the nation’s security and alliance for the award, including Korean War veterans and former U.S. senior leaders in security areas. (Yonhap News)
koreaherald@heraldcorp.com
