Cold War Files: All Units: Events: Gen. Walton H. Walker is Killed

Gen. Walton H. Walker, commander of Eighth Army, is killed in a vehicle accident. The jeep the general was riding in smashed into a ROKA truck that pulled out of a side road while the General's jeep was trying pass a northbound convoy. . Lt. Gen. Matthew B. Ridgway, Army deputy chief of staff, is named to take over Eighth Army. He has been the point man on Korea for Army Chief of Staff Gen. J. Lawton Collins, and has been involved in mobilizing the Army for Korea.. During World War II, Ridgway commanded the 82nd Infantry Division, jumping with his soldiers into North Africa and Normandy on D-Day.