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Contact Info
Home Town Hosington
Last Address Berlin, Maryland
Date of Passing Jan 07, 2010
Location of Interment Eastern Shore Veterans Cemetery - Hurlock, Maryland
Walter E. Starck was born in Hosington, Kansas on September 2, 1920. He was the son of a Lutheran minister, who died in 1933. Walter's mother returned, with her children, to her home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. From age 3, Walter expressed a desire to be a pilot. He worked to support the family starting in his teens and saved money from his job as a theater manager.
He graduated High School, and applied for Aviation Cadets, but a requirement was 2 years of college. He hired a tutor to enable him to receive the equivalent education. After the war began in 1941, the 2-year requirement was eliminated, so Walter enlisted and requested Cadet status in January 1942.
On November 10, 1942, he graduated from flight training and was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant and awarded pilot wings at Moore Field, Texas. He was then sent to Westover, Massachusetts to familiarize himself on the P-47. Later he was assigned to the 321st Fighter Squadron of the 326th Fighter Group.
After training, he was assigned to the 487th Fighter Squadron of the 352nd Fighter Group as the Engineering Officer. He deployed with the unit in 1943 to Bodney Field, England. He began routine missions in the P-47, escorting bombers, and making fighter sweeps. He moved to P-51 fighters when the 352nd Fighter Group transitioned from the P-47.
On November 27, 1944, he and his flight engaged enemy fighters in defense of a bomber stream. At that time, his record was 5 aerial victories, with 1 probable and 2 damaged. In the ensuing dogfight, he shot down 2 more enemy aircraft, but debris from his last kill struck his aircraft and damaged the engine. He reported to the flight leader he was making for England, but the aircraft lost all power and Starck was forced to bail out.
He was captured by the Germans and interrogated for 19 days under extreme conditions, Finally, he was shipped to Stalag Luft I where he stayed under primitive conditions until liberated by the Russians in May 1945. He was promoted to Major and returned to the U.S. at duty stations Moore Field, Texas and Luke AFB, Arizona.
In 1946 he returned to Europe on Occupation duty at Schweinfurt, Germany. In 1948, he was assigned to Red Bank, New Jersey. He then had a tours at various organizations and bases such as Wright-Patterson AFB, Illinois; Taegu AFB, Korea: and Lincoln AFB, Nebraska in the Civil Engineering area.
He became the Division Civil Engineering Officer for the 3rd Air Force in 1962 at Anderson AFB, Guam. In 1964, he was appointed as Executive Civil Engineering Officer at Hgs SAC at Offutt AFB, Nebraska.
Colonel Walter E. Strack retired from the Air Force on July 31, 1965.
He passed away on January 7, 2010 at his home in Berlin, Maryland.
Other Comments:
Walter Starck's first assigned aircraft was P-47D #42-8684, nicknamed "Lucia."
When the 352nd Fighter Group transitioned to P-51s, Starck was assigned P-51B #43-24807, nicknamed "Starck Mad." This name was on the left side of the aircraft; "Even Steven" (for Keith Steven, crew chief) was on the right side.
Later, Starck was given P-51B #43-6929, which was lost on May 12, 1944 while being flown by Lt. Alfred P. Howard, Jr., who was shot down and captured. Ironically enough, Starck was flying P-51B #44-14794, nicknamed "Buzz Boy," assigned to Lt. James Bateman, when he was forced to bail out and become a POW.
Korean War
From Month/Year
June / 1950
To Month/Year
July / 1953
Description The Korean War; 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) began when North Korea invaded South Korea. The United Nations, with the United States as the principal force, came to the aid of South Korea. China came to the aid of North Korea, and the Soviet Union gave some assistance.
Korea was ruled by Japan from 1910 until the closing days of World War II. In August 1945, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, as a result of an agreement with the United States, and liberated Korea north of the 38th parallel. U.S. forces subsequently moved into the south. By 1948, as a product of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, Korea was split into two regions, with separate governments. Both governments claimed to be the legitimate government of all of Korea, and neither side accepted the border as permanent. The conflict escalated into open warfare when North Korean forces—supported by the Soviet Union and China—moved into the south on 25 June 1950. On that day, the United Nations Security Council recognized this North Korean act as invasion and called for an immediate ceasefire. On 27 June, the Security Council adopted S/RES/83: Complaint of aggression upon the Republic of Korea and decided the formation and dispatch of the UN Forces in Korea. Twenty-one countries of the United Nations eventually contributed to the UN force, with the United States providing 88% of the UN's military personnel.
After the first two months of the conflict, South Korean forces were on the point of defeat, forced back to the Pusan Perimeter. In September 1950, an amphibious UN counter-offensive was launched at Inchon, and cut off many of the North Korean troops. Those that escaped envelopment and capture were rapidly forced back north all the way to the border with China at the Yalu River, or into the mountainous interior. At this point, in October 1950, Chinese forces crossed the Yalu and entered the war. Chinese intervention triggered a retreat of UN forces which continued until mid-1951.
After these reversals of fortune, which saw Seoul change hands four times, the last two years of conflict became a war of attrition, with the front line close to the 38th parallel. The war in the air, however, was never a stalemate. North Korea was subject to a massive bombing campaign. Jet fighters confronted each other in air-to-air combat for the first time in history, and Soviet pilots covertly flew in defense of their communist allies.
The fighting ended on 27 July 1953, when an armistice was signed. The agreement created the Korean Demilitarized Zone to separate North and South Korea, and allowed the return of prisoners. However, no peace treaty has been signed, and the two Koreas are technically still at war. Periodic clashes, many of which are deadly, have continued to the present.