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Walter H. Dettinger Toledo, OH QCWA # 2635 OOTC # 1834 |
HON. MARCY KAPTUR in the House of Representatives
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1995
Ms. KAPTUR:
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a truly dedicated American, Mr. Walter H. Dettinger, who passed away on November 21, 1995.
In 1936 at the age of 17, Walt embarked upon several years of selfless service to our country when he enlisted in the Ohio Army National Guard. Upon his discharge in 1939, he joined the U.S. Navy Communications Reserve and was called to active duty the following year. His area of expertise, radio communications, led him to service aboard the USS Worden in Pearl Harbor, HI. Walt was among the thousands of servicemen there on the morning of December 7, 1941, when the Japanese launched their unannounced offensive. As a survivor of the attack, he went on to defend our Nation in the Battle of the Midway and Guadalcanal. In January 1943 while aboard the USS Worden in Amchitka, AK, his ship fell victim to an enemy suicide attack. Once again surviving, he served the rest of World War II in the Pacific on the USS Murray.
In October 1945 he was discharged and returned to civilian life. Five years later, he married Betty, with whom he shared a 45-year marriage and two children. In early 1952, Walt was again called upon to serve his country in the Korean war. He served faithfully and diligently on the USS Fred T. Berry until his discharge in November 1952.
Ambition and drive followed Walt into civilian life as well. As a civilian, he left his mark upon the Toledo broadcasting community in several ways. He helped put an AM radio station, WTOD, on the air, as well as a television station, WTOL-TV 11, from which he retired in 1981. He was a lifelong amateur radio broadcaster, member of the Quarter Century Wireless Association and the American Radio Relay League.
Walt was also a proud member of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association--charter member, past president of Ohio Chapter 3 and past Ohio State Chairman, the Toledo Post #335, American Legion, past commander, and life member of Sylvania Post #3717, Veterans of Foreign Wars. It is through this association that Walt provided me with invaluable assistance in 1991.
Together, we worked to give Pearl Harbor survivors from my district the Pearl Harbor Veterans Award during a moving ceremony 50 years after that long-ago day. Walt's assistance in organizing this commemoration was invaluable to me, and appreciated beyond words by the veterans we honored.
A kind and gentle man who sought neither recognition nor accolades and held his achievements privately, Walt was a truly dedicated American. His advice, counsel, and friendship will be missed. He served America and the cause of freedom with selfless devotion. He left our world a finer place.
