Second Lt. William H. Walker never made it to combat. But the Tuskegee Airman, educated in Suffolk and buried there, helped build the foundation of a unit that would go on to make history.
Walker was 24 years old and assigned to the 100th Fighter Squadron of the 332nd Fighter Group, the unit that would later earn fame as the Red Tails, the first Black military aviators to fly combat missions for the U.S. Army Air Forces.
Craig Huntly, a Tuskegee Airman historian whose uncle served in the same squadron as Walker, described him as someone who stood out from the start.
“He was a real lively character; he was a good pilot my uncle said what you call a hot shot pilot,” Huntly said.
Walker was born in Georgia but was educated in East Suffolk Public Schools in what was then Nansemond County. Nicknamed “Wild Bill Walker,” he was described as personable and was considered one of the original combat pilots of the 332nd Fighter Group…