Walters, Vernon A. (01284614)

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Vernon A. Walters
Personal details
Born	3 January 1917 New York City, New York, U.S.
Died	10 February 2002 West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S.
Nativity	United States
Religion	Catholic
Known for	United States Ambassador to Germany
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army
ASN	01284614
Rank	Lieutenant General
Rank at Ritchie	Second Lieutenant
Camp Ritchie	Class 2 (24 August – 17 October 1942)
Battles / wars	World War II

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Vernon A. Walters (1917–2002) was a Ritchie Boy (from United States; Catholic) who trained at Camp Ritchie in class 2.

Biography

Walters was a Ritchie Boy. Walters was born in New York City on 43 January 1917. He lived abroad with his parents and attended St Louis Gonzaga School in Paris, France, and Stonyhurst College in England, His military career began on 2 May 1941 when he entered the Army as an enlisted man. His first assignment was with. the 187th Field Artillery at Fort Ethon Allen, Vermont. In early 1942 he attended the Officers Candidate School at Ft Benning, Georgia, and graduated as a 2d Lt of Infantry on 29 May 1942, He was assigned to the 85th Division as platoon leader of the Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon of Headquarters Co. 338th Infantry. Subsequently, he was given additional duty of Regimental S-2. Late in 1942, he was assigned to Camp Ritchie, Maryland and went overseas with the 9th Infantry Division, taking part in, the assault landing at Safi in Morocco on 8 November 1942. For his part in this action, he was awarded the Legion of Merit and promoted to 1st Lt. After serving in Algeria and Tunisia, he returned to the United States as Chief of Section at the Intelligence School at Camp Ritchie. While serving there, he attended the. Special Course for Brazilian Officers at the Command & General Staff School at Ft Leavenworth in 1943, Subsequently, he returned to Italy, serving as aide to General Mark W. Clark, Commanding General of Fifth Army. Upon the arrival of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force in Italy, Captain Walters was assigned. as Combat Liaison Officer with the 1st Brazilian Infantry Division remaining with them until the end of the war. He was then assigned as Assistant Army Attache in Brazil. He served there from 1945 to 1948, During the visits of President. Truman, General Marshall and General Eisenhower, he served as aide to interpret for them. In April 1948, he went to the 9th Pan American Conference at Bogota as aide to General Marshall, then Secretary of State. During this conference a revolt occurred in which Fidel Castro was involved. For his work at Bogota, Lt. Walters received the Army Commendation Ribbon, In June 1948, he was assigned to Ambassador Averell Harriman as Assistant Military Attache at Large with station in Paris, and in 1949 he was appointed Army Attache at Large. Returning to the United States with Ambassador Harriman in June 1950, he became Military Assistant to the Special Assistant to the President. At this time, he accompanied Governor Harriman to Korea and to the meeting between President Truman and General MacArthur at Wake Island. In January 1951, he accompanied General Eisenhower on his visit to twelve NATO countries, and in February 1951 he was assigned to SHAPE Headquarters in Paris. He served there as Assistant Executive for National Military representatives, and subsequently as Assistant to the Deputy Chief. of Staff for Logistics and Administration. He also served as Assistant to the President at the Geneva Conference in 1953. Returning to the United States in January 1955, he was assigned to the US Element of the NATO Standing Group as Public Information Officer and Special Projects Officers. During this period, additional duties as Staff Assistant to the President of the United States, accompanying General Eisenhower on all of his foreign trips. He attended courses at Ft Bliss, Texas, and Sandia, New Mexico and in May 1960 was ordered to Rome, Italy as Army Attache, serving there until October 1962, when he was assigned to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil as Army Attache. Vernon Walters was born January 3, 1917 in New York City. He served from 1972 to 1976 as Deputy Director of Central Intelligence, from 1985 to 1989 as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations and from 1989 to 1991 as Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany during the decisive phase of German Reunification. Walters rose to the rank of Lieutenant General in the U.S. Army and is a member of the Military Intelligence Hall of Fame. He passed away February 10, 2002 at the age of 85.

Research notes

• Military Intellig Hall of Fame
• Career intelligence officer; Ambassador to the UN and Germany
• Portrait and summary from Notable Ritchie Boys slides (source).

Technical record

Field	Imported value
Approx Age at Death	85
Class_Name	Walters, Vernon A.
match_method	unique_name_no_asn
row_source	both

Sources

• Wikipedia: Vernon A. Walters
• Camp Ritchie class roster (classes 1–31), merged research file
• NARA World War II Army enlistment records (where a NARA ASN is present)
• 1940 U.S. Census (where a census match is present)
• Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page, post dated 2023-01-15 (1 post)