Last ‘Cutthroat’ dies at age 94

Alaska and the United States lost a piece of our living history Oct. 28 when Ed Walker, 94, died at Providence Hospital.

Walker did much to build Alaska, but in terms of national history, he was the last surviving member of Castner’s Cutthroats — an elite group of 65 warriors hand-picked for their toughness to form a military regiment for reconnaissance in the Aleutian Islands during World War II.

Walker was born in San Juan Bautista, Calif., on Aug. 28, 1917. He joined the U.S. Army in 1937 and served in Hawaii for three years.

His eyes turned toward Alaska after reading a Saturday Evening Post article — and the one book about Alaska in the library — and he decided to re-enlist as a way to get to Alaska.

It was a decision that would shape the next 70 years of Walker’s life.

In Alaska, Walker was sent first to the infantry at Chilkoot barracks in Haines, which was the only established military base in Alaska at the time.

After repeated applications to a newly formed scout unit, Walker was eventually transferred from Haines to Fort Richardson to be part of the Alaskan Scouts.

Col. Lawrence Castner had formed the group of scouts who could live off the country, and it is from this that the group took its name.

Members of the group carried their own provisions and supplies and caught fish and crab for food, Walker said in a 2009 Frontiersman interview.

Walker wrote several books during his lifetime, one of which chronicled his time serving as one of Castner’s Cutthroats. He also wrote a book about living with hip replacement, called “Hip-Hip Hooray!” Following the death of his wife Frances, he processed his loss by writing a book titled “Twenty Women Who Made America Great.”

He’s included in the book “Castner’s Cutthroats: Saga of the Alaska Scouts” by Jim Rearden. Photos of Walker were included in the Anchorage Museum’s 2009 exhibit “Castner’s Cutthroats: Forgotten Warriors.”

And he was part of the long-running History Channel documentary on the Alaskan Scouts.

Those official accounts don’t include his contributions to Alaska, such as founding Arctic Block Construction Co. with Con Frank in 1947. The two legends of Alaska’s construction industry went on to build many of the first permanent structures at both Ladd and Eielson airfields.

He worked at a mining operation in Good News Bay, and while living in Delta Junction for a time published a local newspaper called the Walker’s Weekly. He fought for Alaska’s statehood and raised four children with his wife, Frances — Bob, Suzy, Kathleen and Bill.

After spending the final years of his life at the Alaska Veterans and Pioneers Home in Palmer, Walker died Oct. 28, closing another chapter in the history of Alaska and the Greatest Generation.

Walker’s place in history should not be forgotten. More than that, his passing reminds us of the heartfelt appreciation due all who serve on our behalf. Thank you for serving.