It was an emotional day for Mildred Walker as a flood of memories washed over her in remembrance of her late husband.
During her visit to the Beckley area on Wednesday, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito presented the widow with medals her Cpl. Chester Walker had won in service of his country during World War II – 13 medals in all.
There was the Bronze Star Medal, a Purple Heart and Oak Leaf Cluster, the Good Conduct Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the European-African Middle Eastern Campaign medal, the Victory Medal, the Army of Occupation Medal and Germany Clasp.
And beyond being a good soldier, her late husband, who passed away Nov. 6, 2009, at the age of 87, had been a good family man and a hard worker.
“He was such a hard-working person,” Walker says, wiping away tears. “He took care of his family first and he loved his children.”
Her husband was a medical aidman and served during World War II. He joined the U.S. Army and was a member of the 325th Glider Infantry. The two married in 1943 before he left to serve in France, Belgium and Germany. He served until receiving an honorable discharge in 1947.
Capito presented Walker with her husband's medals in a ceremony at the Beckley VA Medical Center Chapel.
Walker says her husband didn't like a lot of attention and didn't frequently discuss his service, saying if he was still alive, “he would think we're all crazy. That's exactly what he would say.”
Walker felt honored to be presented the medals.
“I appreciate it,” she added. “I think it's wonderful. It's great.”
Walker says one of the more emotional parts of the day was when veterans and workers lined the hall, singing the National Anthem, as she entered the chapel.
“I wasn't expecting anything like that,” she says. “It's a shame he had to pass away for this to happen.”
She says she was nervous through the ceremony and says although he didn't discuss his service too much, she remembered some of the stories he had told her.
“I remember the different things he told me that happened over there, when he was wounded and the treatment he got,” she says.
Capito said the family provided her office with information in order to successfully recoup the medals.
“There has been a problem with some of our World War II veterans because in the 60s, there was a fire in St. Louis, where we stored a lot of records,” Capito says.
Walker added that her husband's medical records were lost in that fire.
“Chester Walker is someone who we need to look at his life at what he did as a young man,” Capito said, "by recouping his medals and remembering his bravery on the battlefield to preserve freedoms.
"As a veteran, he came to this VA and received treatment here in Beckley and obviously had a long life, great marriage and a great family," Capito said. "It's important to remember that people lay their lives on the line for us.”
During her daylong tour in Raleigh County, Capito also visited Leslie Equipment to meet with employees, led a roundtable discussion on tax reform with small business owners at the Beckley-Raleigh County Chamber of Commerce and toured the West Virginia University Institute of Technology campus.