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<em>Walter Ferrell Winton, Jr.,</em> was born in Nashville, TN, on 23 Jul 1917, the son of a career Army officer. In 1935, Walter reported to the IX Corps Area West Point Preparatory School, entering USMA the following year. While at West Point, he earned class numerals in fencing; managed the varsity tennis team, and wrote the “Pyrene” column, a humorous commentary on cadet life. Graduating first in his class in English in 1940, Walter was com­missioned in the Infantry.</p>
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In July 1941, Walter married Wilma Patricia “Billie” Raymond. He attended the Parachute School at Ft. Benning, GA, in May 1942 and subsequently became ex­ecutive officer of the 1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, which was later assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division. In August 1943, Walter jumped into Sicily. When his battalion commander was killed, Walter assumed command. He later jumped into Salerno.</p>
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While training for the invasion of Europe, Walter aggravated a previous knee injury and was reassigned as Assistant Division G-3. Entering the continent of Europe in a glider before dawn on D Day, he helped establish the division command post at St. Mere Eglise, France. On the night of D + 1, Walter led a patrol through German lines to Utah Beach to inform the 4th Infantry Division com­mander that St. Mere Eglise was in friendly hands and was awarded the Silver Star. After the Normandy Campaign, Walter became the Division G-2 and served in this capacity throughout the war in Europe, assaulting into Holland by glider and fighting off German Panzers in the Battle of the Bulge. After VE Day, Walter was selected by Matthew B. Ridgway to be the G-2 of XVIII (Airborne) Corps and deployed with that Headquarters to the Pacific.</p>
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Ridgway knew he had found a winner. When he was designated as the U.S. Army Representative to the United Nations, he made sure Walter was on his staff. Soon af­ter, Ridgway was named Commander of the U.S. Caribbean Command, and Walter followed as the command’s G-2. When Ridgway later assumed command of Eighth Army in Korea, Walter volunteered to serve in any capacity the general desired. Ridgway instructed him to report to Korea as his aide-de-camp. From this vantage point, Walter personally witnessed one of the most remark­able reversals of fortune in American military history and also served as Ridgway’s personal emissary on matters of significant military and political import. When Ridgway replaced GEN Douglas MacArthur as Commander of United Nations Forces in the Far East, he released Walter to become chief of staff of the 24th Infantry Division.</p>
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In the Army’s inestimable wisdom, Walter still had to learn staff work, so it was off to the Command and General Staff College. Promoted to colonel while a student, he was asked to remain on the college’s faculty. Just after getting comfortably settled into new quarters, however, Walter received orders to report to Washington, DC. Ridgway had just become Army Chief of Staff, and he needed a speechwriter. Here, Walter got an advanced education in civil-military rela­tions, witnessing at close quarters the ten­sion between Ridgway and the Eisenhower Administration over national military strat­egy. After Ridgway’s retirement in 1955, Walter continued to serve on the Army Staff. The following year, he was assigned as Third Army G-3 at Ft. McPherson, GA.</p>
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In 1959, Walter returned to Washington, where he served on the Army Staff and earned a Master’s Degree in International Relations from American University. In 1963, Walter assumed command of the 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, at Schofield Barracks, HI. Here, Walter was again in his true element—leading soldiers. Walter trained the brigade relentlessly. Hardly spending a daylight min­ute in his office, he made the rounds from the local ranges on Oahu to the expansive training areas on the “Big Island” of Hawaii, checking, coaching, exhorting, cajoling, all with a single purpose—to make sure that, if his soldiers got the call, they would be ready to fight. He was promoted to brigadier gen­eral in 1964.</p>
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Over the next six years, Walter served in a number of positions where his excellence as an Infantry trainer and his acumen as a staff officer both were exploited to the Army’s ben­efit. He retired in 1970 as deputy commander of Ft. Dix, NJ.</p>
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The last years of his career were marked by personal tragedy when Billie died in early 1969. Shortly after his retirement, he married Betty Leeper Kimball, but tragedy struck again when Betty, too, died young and unex­pectedly in 1974. In the aftermath of Betty’s death, Walter struck up a friendship with Alice White Finley, a widow and close friend of Betty’s. After a brief courtship, Walter pro­posed, and Alice accepted. Walter took a law degree from Stetson University and passed the Florida Bar. Soon thereafter, the newly­weds moved to Alice’s hometown of Great Barrington, MA. There they built a charm­ing home looking directly out on the scenic Berkshire Mountains.</p>
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In retirement, Walter served as an Asso­ciate Professor of Business Administration at Mount St. Mary’s College in Newburgh, NY; as a Visiting Scholar and Defense Ana­lyst for the American Institute of Economic Research; as President of the Great Bar­rington Rotary Club; and as Deacon of the Old Parish Church in Sheffield, MA. Shortly after the turn of the century, Walter and Alice moved to Lenox, MA. There, they continued to pursue many pleasurable interests at a pace that befitted their mature station in life. Wal­ter remained a voracious reader and stayed in close touch with a number of veteran’s groups from his days in the Airborne.</p>
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Walter died peacefully in his sleep early on the morning of 19 May 2007. He was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery on 26 Jul 2007 in a cer­emony officiated by his grandson, Chaplain (CPT) Mark Tyler Winton, USA, Chaplain, 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment. Walter’s exemplary life was an inspiration to all who knew him.</p>
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<em>—HRW and MCW</em></p>