It is so nice to write about men who survived the capizing of the USS Oklahoma, especially one who went on to do so well in life.
After Pearl Harbor, he was on the destroyer USS Blue which was sunk at Guadalcanal on 22 August 1942. So, he was on two ships that sank. Unfortunate, but fortunate. The Blue had also been at Pearl Harbor, but got underway.
After that, he was assigned to an aircraft carrier that was attacked and sunk by Japanese kamakaze planes. Unfortunately, the article did not say which one. But, I did find a list of U.S. aircraft carriers sunk by kamakazes and the ones listed were Ommaney Bay (CVE-79), USS Bismarck Sea (CVE-95) and USS St. Lo (CVE-63).
That would make three ships he was on that sank. I would have given up going to sea.
After the war, Becker eventually moved to Casper where he founded the Becker Fire Equipment Company
Walter Becker died December 4, 2015, at the age of 94. His remains are interred at the Oregon Trail Veterans Cemetery north of Evansville.
--GreGen
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