David Wayne Walker (1948-2001)

On 4 July 2001, Mexican historian David Wayne Walker died in a Corpus Christi hospital, after a terrible fall while skydiving earlier that day in Beeville, Texas. David was born in 1948 in Natchitoches, Louisiana, once the last stop on the Camino Real that ran from Mexico City across Texas. He grew up in the blue-collar suburban community of Pasadena, Texas, a few miles from the San Jacinto battlefield that served as a constant reminder of Mexican history for him. His enthusiasm for pure scholarship began at San Jacinto Junior College, where his history instructor Mrs. Goss gave him inspiration. That thirst for learning continued even after he lost his deferment and found himself “neck deep in the mud of the Mekong Delta,” where he served in a recon unit of the Ninth Infantry Division and saw nine months of combat duty. As David witnessed the uneven battle and carnage,...