Sidney Walton, a 102-year-old World War 2 veteran, was released from Ascension St. John’s hospital in Sapulpa on Tuesday, after an illness forced him into a stay that lasted about a month, according to his son Paul.
Walton has been traveling the country on his “No Regrets Tour,” hoping to meet the governor of every state as he works to raise money for frontline nurses. While in Tulsa, he fell ill and ended up at the Sapulpa hospital for an extended stay. As he exited the hospital in a wheelchair, he appeared exhausted, but his son described it as “one of the happiest days of my life.”
“I can’t tell you how happy I am to have my dad sitting here next to me,” he said. Paul himself is a cancer survivor and had just had spinal surgery last week, but made the trip from California to Oklahoma to help get his dad checked out of the hospital.
Sidney Walton was born in 1919, and in March of 1941, he enlisted in the Army, just eight months before Pearl Harbor. He served in the lesser-known third theater of combat, CBI (China-Burma-India), as a corporal and medical technician in the 34th Infantry, 8th Division, until the war’s end.
This afternoon, Paul leaned in and said “Dad, tell all these people why you joined the Army.” Walton answered feebly but plainly: “To fight Hitler.”
Walton says he always regretted missing a chance to meet Civil War veterans during the 1939 World’s Fair in New York. In an effort to make up for this regret, he began the “No Regrets Tour” to give Americans one more chance to meet a World War II vet before they’re all gone.
Paul Walton told the small crowd that had gathered outside the hospital that he’d just learned of the oldest surviving World War 2 veteran passing away recently. “That means dad is the oldest—or very nearly the oldest—surviving veteran of World War 2.”
Walton has met the presidents of the U.S. and France, was honored at the 2020 Super Bowl, had a birthday on the Today Show, was featured on World News Tonight, and received the 2020 Unsung Hero Patriot Award. So far, he’s met 39 of the governors in the United States. Oklahoma’s Governor Stitt was to be the 40th when he fell ill.
Sapulpa Police Chief Mike Reed and Fire Chief David Taylor were on hand to give Walton honorary department patches and challenge coins. They each shook his hand and had words with Walton before posing for a picture.
Paul said he’s going to take his dad to a hotel in Tulsa with a nurse to help him recover, and then hopefully, they’ll continue on their tour. But first, “We’re going to Hickory House.”
