Charlie Walker, inducted into ICCC Hall of Fame

Charlie Walker, a 1964 graduate of Eagle Grove High School was inducted into the Iowa Central Community College Hall of Fame this past Saturday for his involvement with the Brushy Creek Honor Flight.

Walker said he was honored to be amongst the distinguished alumni who were honored for their contributions to society and business since their graduation.

“It was very nice...there were a lot of nice things said about me that even I didn’t know about,” Walker said lightheartedly and very humbly.

Walker attended Eagle Grove Junior College in 1964 - 1965 (which merged into Iowa Central Community College in 1967) before going on to further his education.  In October of 1968, he joined the Army.  He said he chose to enlist, rather than be drafted.  After basic training, Walker was sent to Fort Devons in Massachusetts, then to Maryland.  When he came home to Eagle Grove for Christmas in 1968, he returned with reports to ship to Vietnam in January, 1970.  He spent 11 months there serving as part of the 175th Radio Research Company.  He was trained as a cryptographic analyst (code-breaker).  He recalled of one instance where he and his group broke a Vietcong message that they were going to bomb an artillery base at 6 p.m. the next evening.  They reported it, feeling good that they had stopped the attack.  Unfortunately, three days later they read that three people had still been killed in the attack.  His group was disappointed, thinking their warning hadn’t been received.  But they were wrong.  A few days later they received a “Thank you” from command saying that although sadly they had lost three soldiers, their warning had saved many lives.

A few decades later, as a Veteran himself, Walker heard about the mission to take Veterans to see their memorials in Washington, D.C. to thank them for their service.  In 2010, he and  Ron Newsome joined forces to organize the Fort Dodge-based Brushy Creek Honor Flight.  Walker continues to serve as the Director of the Brushy Creek Honor Flight and is proud to say that since it’s development, they have taken 19 flights of Veterans and have another flight scheduled for May of 2020.  It was this dedication to our Veterans that inspired Brian Larson of Fort Dodge to nominate Walker to be inducted into the Iowa Central Community College Hall of Fame.

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