About Me:
Posted 1 year ago at 8:32 pm. 7 comments
Hi, my name is Ed Whitehead and I served aboard the U.S.S. Walton from 1961 to 1963. I came aboard as an FA and went straight to the firerooms. We did a refit in Pearl and then shipped out for a WesPac cruise. During our trip over, I transferred from Engineering to the First Division; yep, the deck force. I loved being a deck ape, and I can still tie a “Monkey’s Fist” and pipe Sweepers!
When we got back from our WesPac tour and entered the Reserve Training Fleet, we were short handed and I went to the Radar gang, where I stayed until my transfer off the ship in Oct. of 1963.
After leaving the Navy, I decided to go to college while working for the Southern Pacific Railroad. After college I became a teacher, then a school administrator and retired in 2003.
I ride motorcycles across country, take lots of pictures, or travel with my lovely wife in our fifth-wheel. We enjoy boating and have owned 14 boats over the years, mainly small ones, although we did have a 30′ Catalina sailboat once. We are, as they say, between boats at the moment.
I’ve been to four Walton reunions and highly recommend them to one and all. The next one is this Oct. 13 to 16, 2010 in San Diego. I hope to see you there.
I also hope you enjoy our site.
If you like this plaque, let me know and I’ll send you the address where I had it made. – Ed
Me on the Fantail Watch, Sasabo, Japan, 1962
Hi Ed, my name is Joe Hepting. I was reminiscing through some of my old stuff, and came across a ships log that my grandpa had. He was a crew member of DE 361 from 1944-1945. The material I have shows a couple of drawings of the ship, then the ships log, then the crew members information, both officers and enlisted. If you would like this information, please e-mail me back. I don’t have a scanner, so I would probably have to fax it to you. Let me know.
Hey Ed,
Now I am just a kid, born about five years after you left the Walton. However my father instilled in me a great love of military history, and I went on to study history in college. Two great loves of mine are history and the sea.
Thank you for this great blog you have begun. I have enjoyed reading the stories and meeting the crew.
Smooth sailing and peace,
Hi Louis,
Thanks for dropping by our Walton site. We always enjoy having a “young” person who enjoys military history. I see you are a scuba instructor. It matters little whether you sail on it or dive below it, the sea gives us a common bond. I hope you’ll drop by from time to time to see what’s new at our site. Meanwhile, stay well and be safe.
I served on the Walton from 1944- as an electrician and an 18 yr old kid.—we operated out of subic bay philapines with the subs –and we escorted convoys into the Philapines. I rremember we escorted a freighter from Shanhai to Hong Kong in a typhoon.
There were mountainous waves I heard that a DE capsized in one of those storms.
That was quite an adventure for me—I am 83 now –I wonder if there are any of the original crew left? That was our home and it stood the test it kept us alive and we were proud of her. There is still a restored DE at Albany, NY called the SLATER.
Hi Al,
Hey, we are really glad to hear from one of our WWII shipmates. Glad to see you’re still around and kicking. I will ask around to those who have some crew lists and see if we can find anyone from that period to put you in touch with. Meanwhile, I’ll email you directly and give you my phone number. Maybe we can talk and I can write down some of your stories for the rest of the Walton crews to enjoy. So glad you found us and even happier you decided to contact us. I will soon put your email into a post where it will get more coverage. Thanks again. – Ed
Ed,
I know that I am not the same Bob Borak as in your story about the monkey, but I wanted to say that I really enjoyed looking over your website, and would love to see what another Bob Borak, besides my Dad, looks like it you have a picture. Would also love to hear the rest of the story about the monkey.
Hi Bob,
Sorry, but I don’t have a picture of the Bob Borak in the story, maybe one of the other Walton shipmates may see this and send me one. As far as the monkey goes, that’s about all I know of the story. If anyone can add additional information, please send it on. Thanks for dropping by the Walton site Bob.