Joe Walker JR. Walker, JR. Joseph Thomas
Besides the USS POWER DD 839 I was stationed on the Battle -Wagon, USS Arkansas BB 33 from June 1943 until she went to Bikini, Atole in 1946 and was sunk with a nuclear bomb. Atole was the testing site for nuclear bombs. It took two bombs to sink the "Grand Old Lady" The "Arky" sank with second underwater Bomb"; She cracked under the hull. The crack was from a hit by a German ME109 with a guided glider bomb during the Normandy invasion The USS Arkansas was on station off the Normandy Beach (Omaha Beach) Southern France on June 6th 1944. We took on 191 wounded from Normandy as our hospital ship was sunk. I will add, we did not lose a single patient and we had some real bad surgical cases. Lt. L.E. Dostal our surgeon was really outstanding. We had 3 Doctors, 2 Dentists and 24 Corpsman. I was a Ph. mate 1class at Normandy and made Chief in last days of Pacific War. After the Normandy invasion, the USS Arkansas sailed to the Pacific to support the Marines in the invasion of Iowa Jima and Okinawa. The Arkansas was at Iowa Jima when President Roosevelt died We were under way for Japan when Japan offered to surrender after second bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Honorably discharged August 30th 1960 Walker, JR. Joseph Thomas Editors Note: Joe was the USSPOWER association's first president. He served in that capacity for three years and is the association's 2001-02 treasurer |
