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2nd Lt Gene F. Walker graduated from Richmond High School in 1935. He attended Earlham College for one year and Indiana University for one year. He graduated from Indiana Business College in Richmond and was employed at Automotive Gears Works.

He enlisted on 29 July 1942. He trained at Fort McClellan, Alabama, attended Officers Candidate School at Fort Knox, Kentucky and was stationed at Camp Chaffee, Arkansas, before he was sent overseas in June 1944.

His platoon was ordered to clear the opposition which had stopped the infantry advance. At that time the platoon encountered a minefield at which point it received direct fire from enemy bazookas and a concentration of enemy artillery and mortar fire. With total disregard of his owen personal safety, Lt Walker succeeded in going around the left flank of the minefield with his tank, but other tanks following were bogged down in the marshy ground, thus blocking the route of the advance of the remainder of the platoon. Firing at the enemy located in buildings to his front, Lt Walker diverted the attention of the enemy to his particular part of the sector, thus making it possible for the remainder of the friendly troops to clear a path trough the minefield and reach the objective with a sufficient force to hold the town. For this action he was awarded the Bronze Star posthumously.

His tank was hit by an 88-mm anti-tank round. The hit caused a fire and is believed to have killed Lt Walker instantaneously. The surviving crew bailed out of the tank, but when they regrouped later were unable to remove Lt Walker from the tank due to heavy fighting.

Lt Walker had a daughter whom he had never seen.

On 1 and 3 September 1948 an investigation was conducted at Hucheln for the purpose of locating the remains of 2nd Lt Walker. He was a crew member of a tank which was on a mission to Hucheln when hit by anti-tank fire and burning out. The team contacted former employees of the communal administration, the burgermeister of Weissweiler and the owner of an estate nearby.

One of the employees stated that all inhabitants of Hucheln were evacuated on 10 November 1944. After returning to the village in April 1945, he was ordered to search and interrall found, deceased soldiers whose remains were lying in the area of the community. No deceased U.S. soldiers were found. He claimed that only one destroyed U.S. tank was in the area, but no remains were found in this tank.

The burgermeister of Weissweiler, of which Hucheln is a part, presented documents that confirmed that no U.S. soldiers were buried at the cemetery of the village. To the best of his knowledge, no deceased U.S. soldiers were buried in their cemetery nor in the open field of the community. Several destroyed U.S. tanks were located in the area but most of them were cut to pieces and taken away.

The owner of the estate stated that only one deceased U.S. soldier was found in the territory belonging to her. No information could be given concerning other U.S. soldiers in the area.

The investigation team concluded that the remains of 2nd Lt Walker have been disinterred as unknown, probably prior to April 1945. As all the fields are cultivated at the time of their investigation and no sight of a grave could be found, the team didn't believe that the remains were still buried in the area.

While studying unresolved American losses in the Hücheln area, a DPAA historian determined that one set of unidentified remains, designated X-157 Henri-Chapelle, recovered from one of the burned-out tanks in Hücheln in December 1944 possibly belonged to Lt Walker. The remains, which had been buried in Henri-Chapelle U.S. Military Cemetery, were disinterred in August 2021 and sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
To identify Lt Walker’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA).

Lt Walker’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery. A rosette was placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Lt Walker is buried at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego, California on 26 January 2024.