| John T. Walton | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 8 1946 United States |
| Died | June 27 2005 (aged 58) Jackson, Wyoming |
John Thomas Walton (October 8 1946 – June 27, 2005) was a decorated American war hero, and a son of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton. He was the chairman of True North Partners, a venture capital firm.
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Early life, service in Vietnam
Walton was a graduate of Bentonville High School, a public high school, where he was a star football player. Walton went on to continue his studies at the College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio. He later dropped out in order to enlist in the U.S. Army and fight in the Vietnam War. He joined in 1968, after the Tet Offensive. During the war he served in the Green Berets as part of the Studies and Observations Group. He was involved in a battle in the A Shau Valley in Laos, where he was the medic and second-in-command in a unit named "Strike Team Louisiana". An account of the battle can be found in the book Across the Fence: The Secret War in Vietnam (ISBN 0-9743618-0-1) by John Stryker Meyer. Eventually he received a Silver Star for bravery in combat.
Later life, and death
As part of the Philanthropy Roundtable, in 1998 Walton and friend Ted Forstmann established the Children's Scholarship Fund to provide tuition assistance for low-income families wanting to give their children the best possible education through attendance at a private school. He was a passionate advocate of school vouchers. On June 27, 2005, Walton died when the CGS Hawk Arrow [1] homebuilt aircraft (Experimental Aircraft under FAA regulation) that he was piloting crashed in Jackson, Wyoming. Walton's plane crashed at 12:20 p.m. local time (1820 GMT), shortly after taking off from Jackson Hole Airport. The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows: The loss of airplane pitch control resulting from the pilot/owner's improper reinstallation of the rear locking collar on the elevator control torque tube, which allowed the torque tube to move rearward during flight and loosen the elevator control cable tension.
Just before his death, Walton was estimated to be worth US$18.2 billion by Forbes magazine, and he was tied with his brother Jim as the 4th richest person in the United States [2] and 11th-richest person in the world. Walton is survived by his wife, Christy, and son, Luke; two brothers, Rob and Jim; and a sister, Alice.
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