January 5, 1943. New Guinea.


 January 5, 1943. New Guinea. Twelve big bombers take off into the morning sky, engines making noise, carrying men who know they have a tough job. At the front is Brigadier General Kenneth Newton Walker, a leader who won’t stay back while others fight. Their mission is simple. Attack a Japanese convoy near Rabaul. They succeed. Nine ships are destroyed and on fire. Its a successful attack, but in war, success doesn’t last long.On the return trip, the fighters come in. Most of the fighters dive and attack the formation. Walker's B17 is hit, one engine smoking, the plane barely able to stay aloft while Japanese pilots circle like shark's. And then it vanishes. No wreckage. No survivors. Eleven men are just gone. Missing first, dead later.Walker's path was long ago. He was born in New Mexico in 1898 and enlisted in the Army in 1917. He flew when airplanes were extremely vulnerable, taught other individuals to fly, and fought until he could not anymore. Roosevelt awarded him the Medal of Honor and numerous other awards. Roswell Army Airfield was renamed Walker Air Force Base in 1948. The world remembers him.

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