WALTON DE 361

Ship Name and Designation History

This section lists the names and designations that the ship had during its lifetime. The list is in chronological order.

John C. Butler Class Destroyer Escort Keel Laid 21 March 1944 - Launched 20 May 1944 USS WALTON DE-361 Commissioned 4 September 1944 - Decommissioned 31 May 1946 Recommissioned 26 January 1951 Assigned 20 July 1958 to NRT 12th Naval District at San Francisco, CA Activated 1 October 1961 for the Berlin Crisis Deactivated 1 August 1962 and returned to Naval Reserve Training Decommissioned 20 September 1968 Struck from Naval Register 23 September 1968 Sunk as target 7 August 1969 off California

Naval Covers

This section lists active links to the pages displaying covers associated with the ship. There should be a separate set of pages for each name of the ship (for example, Bushnell AG-32 / Sumner AGS-5 are different names for the same ship so there should be one set of pages for Bushnell and one set for Sumner). Covers should be presented in chronological order (or as best as can be determined).

Since a ship may have many covers, they may be split among many pages so it doesn't take forever for the pages to load. Each page link should be accompanied by a date range for covers on that page.

1. USS Walton DE-361 Covers Page 1     (1951-1962)

 

Postmarks

This section lists examples of the postmarks used by the ship. There should be a separate set of postmarks for each name and/or commissioning period. Within each set, the postmarks should be listed in order of their classification type. If more than one postmark has the same classification, then they should be further sorted by date of earliest known usage.

A postmark should not be included unless accompanied by a close-up image and/or an image of a cover showing that postmark. Date ranges MUST be based ONLY ON COVERS IN THE MUSEUM and are expected to change as more covers are added.
 
>>> If you have a better example for any of the postmarks, please feel free to replace the existing example.

 

Postmark Type --- Killer Bar Text	Postmark Date	Thumbnail Link To Postmark Image	Thumbnail Link To Cover Image

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1st Commissioning 4 September 1944 to 31 May 1946

 

Locy Type 2z

1946-05-18

Note:

 

Locy Type 2# (Br# 15956)

1946-01-18

Note:

 

Locy Type SL

1946-05-18

Note:

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2nd Commissioning 26 January 1951 to 20 September 1968

 

Locy Type FDPS 2r

1951-04-14

First Day Postal Service

 

Locy Type 2(n) (USS)

1962-02-07

Note:

 

Locy Type 2r

1957-05-15

Note:

 

Locy Type 9efu

1957-05-15

Note:

 

Other Information

USS WALTON earned the Combat Action Ribbon, the China Service Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, the National Defense Service Medal w/ 1 star, the Korea Service Medal w/ 2 stars, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, the Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation Ribbon, the Philippine Liberation Medal, the UN Korean Service Medal and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal during her Naval career.

NAMESAKE - Platoon Sergeant Merrit Cecil Walton, USMC (18 December 1915 - 7 August 1942)
Walton enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on May 19 1937 at San Francisco, Calif., and initially served at San Diego, Calif., before going to the Asiatic Station that autumn. As a member of the 4th Marine Regiment—quartered in the International Settlement of Shanghai, China—Walton witnessed part of the bloody battle that raged for that key city between Chinese and Japanese forces and, as such, was an early observer of Japanese aggression in the Far East. During his tour in China, he received promotion to Private, 1st Class, on May 10 1939. Returning to the United States in the autumn of 1940, Walton served successive tours of duty at the Marine barracks at Mare Island, Vallejo, Calif.; the Naval Air Station, Lakehurst, N.J.; Quantico, Va.; and New River, N.C. He was promoted to Sergeant on August 1 1941 and platoon sergeant on April 8 1942. Platoon Sergeant Walton was serving in a parachute battalion as part of the 1st Marine Division (Reinforced) that was selected to land in the Solomons in August 1942. Companies A and B of that battalion landed on the island of Gavutu on the morning of August 7 1942. The enemy, already alterted by the landings on Guadalcanal and Tulagi, met the marines' frontal assault with a withering fire. Although fully aware of the danger involved, Platoon Sergeant Walton volunteered to reconnoiter the position of a troublesome Japanese machine gun nest threatening his platoon's right flank. Once he had spotted the weapon's location, he led a daring attack during which the leathernecks silenced the gun. Mortally wounded, however, Platoon Sergeant Walton died later that same day. Posthumous awards accorded the sergeant included the Navy Cross, the Purple Heart, and a share of the Presidential Unit Citation awarded the 1st Marine Division (Reinforced)

The ships sponsor was Mrs. Clara Olson, the mother of the late Sergeant Walton.

 

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