As an outstanding combat leader and commander, educator, and soldier-statesman, General Sam Sims Walker has given a lifetime of exemplary service to the Nation, the United States Army, and his fellow soldiers, epitomizing the ideals of "Duty, Honor, Country."
Sam Sims Walker was born at West Point, New York, on July 31, 1925, and graduated from Western High School, Washington, D. C., in 1941. He attended the Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Virginia, before entering the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York, in July 1943. At the United States Military Academy he was a cadet regimental commander and was commissioned a second lieutenant of infantry upon graduation in June, 1946.
Commissioned into the Infantry upon graduation, General Walker´s career began with an assignment as a platoon leader in the 11th Airborne Division in Japan, and over the course of the next 32 years, he commanded at every level. His leadership skills, honed at West Point, came into sharp focus on the battlefield in Korea, when, as a company commander in the 24th Division, he received the first of two Silver Stars for heroism. He returned from Korea in 1951 and was assigned as an instructor at the Infantry School at Ft. Benning.
Following graduation from the Command and General Staff College in 1957, General Walker was assigned to a number of highly responsible positions, including aide de camp to the Chief of Staff of the Army, company tactical officer at West Point, and Secretary of the General Staff of the United Nations Command/US Forces, Korea. In 1963 he was selected to attend the National War College, finishing the course as a Distinguished Graduate. Following a year in command of the 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry in Germany, he once again moved to the sound of the guns by volunteering for combat duty in Vietnam. There, he became G3 of the First Infantry Division, and then, while still a lieutenant colonel, took command of a brigade. While in command of this brigade, he earned the second of his Silver Stars for extraordinary heroism under fire.
On his return to the United States then-Colonel Walker attended the Advanced Management Program at Harvard and was assigned to the Office of the Vice Chief of Staff of the Army as Chief of Force Readiness, Force Planning, and Analysis. In this position he developed a method for predicting active and reserve forces´ readiness under mobilization and non-mobilization conditions that was approved by the Secretary of Defense, Secretary of the Army, and Chief of Staff as a key management tool. Following this service he was selected personally by the Army Chief of Staff to represent his service on the Council of Foreign Relations.
Promoted to Brigadier General in 1968, he was assigned as the Assistant Division Commander of the 82d Airborne Division. A year later General Walker became the 54th Commandant of Cadets. At West Point he again displayed his distinguished leadership during an unsettling period for the Academy. The Fourth Class System, and the Honor Code were being challenged from within and without the Academy. His rational, focused approach to the problems faced by the Academy during this difficult time provided a roadmap to follow in meeting challenges while maintaining the fundamental core values of "Duty, Honor, Country."
Following his tour as Commandant of Cadets, he was promoted to Major General and given command of the 3d Infantry Division in Germany. As the Division Commander his concern for soldiers´ well-being contributed greatly to the restoring of soldier morale and combat effectiveness resulting from Vietnam war-related personnel turbulence. He commanded the Division for two years and in 1974 was selected to be the US Commander in Berlin. There, he demonstrated a statesman-like talent in dealing with German officials and the Four Powers represented in the city. He also enhanced contingency planning for the defense of West Berlin and greatly improved allied coordination for the execution of vital contingencies.
Promoted to Lieutenant General, General Walker served from 1975 to 1977 as the Deputy Commanding General, Forces Command at Ft. McPherson, Georgia. Here he shared responsibility for the readiness of Army forces that would be deployed throughout the world to augment the Combatant Commands. In 1977 General Walker was again selected for promotion, this time to the rank of General, and at the same time was appointed as Commanding General, Allied Land Forces Southeast, with headquarters in Turkey. This Command is responsible for the defense of NATO´s southern flank, and General Walker was effective in improving regional command coordination, thus contributing significantly to the enhancement of US-Turkish relations. He was awarded the Defense Distinguished Service Medal for his achievements, and the Distinguished Service Medal of the Turkish Armed Forces.
Following his retirement from active duty, in 1981 General Walker returned to academia as the 11th Superintendent of the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia. At VMI, General Walker made enormous contributions to the governance of the Institute at a time when it was seeking to move forward on a number of fronts. He also reformed certain aspects of the Fourth Class System that were detrimental to the military training and character development of cadets. As a result of far-reaching improvements he made in academics, administration and physical facilities, VMI reinforced its status as a premier military institution of higher learning.
General Walker served for many years as a Trustee-at-Large of the Association of Graduates, and in appreciation for his dedicated service was designated a Trustee Emeritus in 1996. He is also a Board member of the Advisory Council of the US-Korea Foundation, the Council on US-Korea Security Studies, the National D-Day Museum, and American Friends of Turkey.
Sam Walker´s distinguished record of achievement as a combat leader in Korea and Vietnam, as an educator at West Point and VMI, and as a soldier-statesman in Berlin and in NATO´s Allied Land Forces Southeast epitomizes the highest ideals and values of selfless service. It is with great pride that the Association of Graduates of the United States Military Academy presents the 2005 Distinguished Graduate Award to General Sam Sims Walker, USMA Class of 1946.
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Captain (Infantry), [then First Lieutenant] Sam S. Walker (ASN: 0-28197), United States Army, for gallantry in connection with military operations against an opposing armed force while serving as Commanding Officer of Company A, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. Captain Walker distinguished himself by courageous action near Sonju, Korea, on 23 September 1950. After a forced march over twenty miles, during his battalion's advance, his company was assigned the mission of clearing large enemy forces form the left position of the town. As the company entered, the enemy swept the area with intense mortar and small arms fire. With utter disregard for his own safety, Captain Walker moved among his men placing them in positions from which they could obtain maximum fire power and urging them on to greater efforts. During the furious fight he repeatedly exposed himself to withering fire in order to better direct his command in its assault against the well dug-in enemy. His fearless example served well to inspire his men who went on to secure their objective, inflicting heavy casualties among the enemy force and destroying or capturing many guns and other equipment. Captain Walker's courageous actions, devotion to duty and exemplary leadership reflect the greatest credit on himself and the United States Infantry.
General Orders: Headquarters, 24th Infantry Division, General Orders No. 277 (December 21, 1950)
June to September 1950. Communist efforts to divide the South Koreans against themselves having failed, the North Koreans decided to attempt their subjugation by military force. At 0400, Sunday, 25 June 1950 (Korean Time), North Korean forces crossed the 38th parallel into the Republic and launched their main effort toward the South Korean capital city of Seoul, down the P'och'on-Uijongbu and Yonch'on-Uijongbu corridors. Strong attacks were also directed through Kaesong toward Munsan on the right, and toward Ch'unch'on on the left. On the west coast the Ongjin Peninsula was quickly captured. On the east coast a land column and a small seaborne detachment met near Kangnung.
By 28 June Seoul had fallen, the North Koreans had closed up along the Han River to a point about 20 miles east of Seoul, and had advanced as far as Samchok on the meat coast. By 4 July enemy forces were along the line Suwon-Wonju-Samchok. In withdrawing, the Republic of Korea ("ROK") forces had suffered such serious losses that their attempts to regroup and retain order were almost futile.
On 25 June 1950 the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution calling "for immediate cessation of hostilities" and "upon the authorities of North Korea to withdraw forthwith their armed forces to the thirty-eighth parallel." When the North Koreans failed to accede to these demands, the Security Council passed a second resolution recommending "that the Members of the United Nations furnish such assistance to the Republic of Korea as may be necessary to repel the armed attack and restore the international peace and security in the area."
President Truman announced on 27 June 1950 the t he had ordered American air and naval forces to give cover and support to the South Korean troops (UN Defensive-27 June to 15 September 1950). On the 28th he authorized the Commander in Chief Far East to use certain supporting ground units in Korea, and authorized the U.S. Air Force to conduct missions on specific targets in North Korea. On the 30th the President further authorized the C. in C. Far East to use all forces available to him to repel the invasion, and ordered a naval blockade of the entire coast of Korea.
A Security Council resolution of 7 July 1950 recommended the establishment of a unified command in Korea and requested the United States to designate a commander of these forces. On 8 July President Truman announced the appointment of General of the Army Douglas MacArthur as Commander in Chief, United Nations Command (CINCUNC). On 14 July President Rhee placed all ROK security forces under the United Nations commander, an act which consolidated the anti-Communist forces under the United Nations Commend for the purpose of repelling the Communist aggression.
The U.S. forces at MacArthur's disposal included the four divisions in Japan-the 1st Cavalry Division and the 7th, 24th, and 25th Infantry Divisions-and the 29th Regimental Combat Team in Okinawa. The divisions were lacking a third of their infantry and artillery units and almost all their armor units. Existing units were far under strength. Weapons and equipment were war-worn relics of World War II, and ammunition reserves amounted to only a 45-day supply. None of the divisions had reached full combat efficiency, since intensive training had been largely neglected because of occupation duties.
Initial U.S. strategy, dictated by the speed of the North Korean drive and the state of American unpreparedness, was one of trading space for time. On 2 July 1950 Task Force Smith, composed of two rifle companies and a few supporting units of the 24th Division, was flown from Japan to Pusan and moved by train and truck to defensive positions near Osan, 30 miles south of Seoul. Its mission was to fight a delaying action to gain time for the movement of more troops from Japan. On 5 July this small force was attacked by a North Korean division supported by 30 tanks and compelled to withdraw, after a stubborn defense, with heavy losses of men and equipment.
By this time the remaining elements of the 24th Division had reached Korea and were in defensive positions along the Kum River, north of Taejon and 60 miles south of Osan. ROK elements held positions to the east, some 50 miles above Taegu. By 15 July the 25th Division had arrived in Korea and was positioned east of the 24th Division. The 1st Cavalry Division arrived and closed in the P'chang-dong area on 18-19 July. Lt. Gen. Walton H. Walker, Commander of the U.S. Eighth Army, had been placed in command of all U.S. ground troops in Korea on 13 July, and, at the request of President Rhee, of the South Korean Army as well. As the ground troops of other U.N. members reached Korea, they also were placed under Walker's command.
North Korean forces crossed the Kum River and captured Taejon, an important communications center, on 20 July. U.S. and ROK troops continued to withdraw steadily to the southeast under constant North Korean pressure. During the withdrawal our Army's 3.5-inch rocket launcher was used (for the first time on a battlefield) with highly successful results against North Korean tanks. It was in this period that the 24th Division commander, Maj. Gen. William F. Dean, was reported missing when North Korean tanks broke through the forward unite of his division. It was learned later that he had been captured about 35 miles south of Taejon on 25 August.
The final days of July 1950 witnessed a series of hard-fought battles all along the 200-mile front of the United Nations perimeter. The northern front, a line running inland from Yongdok through Andong, Yech'on, Hamch'ong, and Hwanggan to Kumch'on, was defended at critical points by ROK troops and the U.S. 25th Division. The 1st Cavalry Division was battling on the west flank to keep the Yongdong-Kumch'on-Taegu rail line open. To block the southwestern approaches to Pusan, which the enemy was threatening, the 29th RCT advanced to Chinju, but was ambushed by a North Korean division and suffered heavy losses. Enemy pressure continued from Yosu and Chinju in the southwest to Kwan-ni on the Taejon-Taegu railroad, thence northeast through Yech'on to Yongdok on the Sea of Japan.
By the beginning of August the U.S. and ROK forces had withdrawn behind the Naktong River, a position which the U.N. Command was determined to hold. The area held in southeastern Korea resembled a rectangle, the southwestern side of which was guarded by the 24th and 25th Divisions to prevent a breakthrough to Masan. The 1st Cavalry Division was deployed on the western front to guard the Taegu railroad approaches. The northern front was defended by ROK divisions from a point south of Hamch'ang to a point just south of Yongdok on the east coast.
Early in August General Walker declared the strategy of trading space for time to be at an end, and ordered a final stand along this 140-mile perimeter around the port of Pusan, which had become a well-stocked Eighth Army supply base and the hub of a rail and road net leading to the battle front. By now the enemy's lengthened supply lines were under constant air attack, enemy naval opposition had been wiped out, and the blockade of the Korean coast had been clamped tight.
During the next month and a half, fourteen North Korean divisions dissipated their strength in piecemeal attacks against the Pusan perimeter. Walker, by rapidly shuttling his forces to meet the greatest threats, inflicted heavy casualties on the North Koreans and prevented serious penetrations. The enemy, determined to annihilate the Eighth Army and take Taegu and Pusan, massed for a two-pronged attack across the Naktong, one prong from the west and the other from the southwest. The principal actions were fought along the river from Waegwan south through Song-dong and Ch'irhyon-ni to the junction of the Naktong and Nam Rivers, and southwest toward Haman and Chinju.
While U.S. troops were fighting along the banks of the Naktong, other battles took place in the southwest. A veteran North Korean division, which had been concentrated for an assault upon Susan and Pusan, was hit by Task Force Kean. Named for the 25th Division Commander, the Task Force was composed of the 5th RCT, the 35th RCT of the 25th Division, the 1st Marine Brigade, and a ROK battalion. It opened a strong counteroffensive on 7 August 1950 to secure the left funk of the perimeter and prevent the enemy from driving on Pusan. Overcoming initial heavy resistance, it defeated the North Koreans and by 11 August commanded the high ground to the east of Chinju.
On the eastern flank of the perimeter the town of Yongdok was lost by ROK units, some of which then had to be evacuated by sea. On 12 August the port of P'chang-dong was attacked by enemy forces led by tanks which mounted screaming sirens. This force poured through a break in the R0K lines and linked up with North Korean advance agents in the port. These agents, disguised as innocent-looking refugees, carried mortars, machineguns, and other weapons in oxcarts, on A-frames and on their persons. While a force of North Koreans took P'chang-dong, the adjoining airstrip, of great importance to the U.N. forces as a base for tactical aircraft. On 13 August the danger was so pressing that all aircraft were evacuated. Within the next five days, however, ROK troops and a small U.S. task force recaptured P'chang-dong and returned it to U.N. control.
During this time a much larger force of North Koreans breached the U.N. positions at some paints in the Naktong River sector, but failed in their attempt to capture the rail junctions at Taegu. To hold a line near the river, Walker rearranged the defensive positions of the 24th and 25th Infantry Divisions, the 1st Cavalry Division, and the 1st Marine Brigade, deploying them in a manner which assigned combat zones of 15-30 miles to each division.
The enemy, continuing his efforts to crack the perimeter, massed several divisions above Waegwan to assault Taegu from the north. Despite a bombing raid in which U.N. air forces dropped 850 tons of bombs on the suspected enemy concentration area, the North Koreans launched a powerful attack which carried through the ROK positions and threatened Taegu. Stalwart defense and swift countermeasures in this area on 19 August saved Taegu from almost certain capture, parried the enemy 's three-pronged thrust at the city, and stopped the momentum of the North Korean offensive.
Shortly before midnight on 31 August enemy forces again attacked the Naktong River Line, this time in tremendous force. Disregarding very heavy casualties from U.N. air force bombing and strafing, they mounted a strong offensive against the entire Pusan beachhead from Haman in the south to P'chang-dong in the northern sector. The port of P'chang-dong was captured on 6 September, but again the Communists failed to capture the airfield. Waegwan and the "walled city" of Kasan were lost as the U.N. defenders fell back for a last ditch stand at Taegu. Between 4 and 11 September the enemy made important gains along the Naktong in some of the heaviest fighting of the war; but U.N. forces blunted the drive on Taegu and began to show slow progress of their own against very strong enemy resistance.
On the southern front the North Korean offensive, which opened with a massive artillery barrage near Haman, struck the 25th Division with tanks and waves of infantry, imperiling its forward positions. However, although the enemy had made impressive gains along the U.N. perimeter and General Walker still had to shuttle his units from one critical area to another, a strong beachhead remained in the hands of the U.N. Command.
By mid-August the offensive capability of the Eighth Army had been augmented by the arrival of the U.S. 2d Division, the 1st Marine Brigade, four battalions of medium tanks from the United States, and the 5th RCT from Hawaii. Before the month was out, five ROK divisions were restored to some semblance of order, and Great Britain committed the 27th Brigade from Hong Kong. With the arrival of these reinforcements an attempt could now be made to end the U.N. withdrawal and to begin a U.N. offensive in southeastern Korea.
