Walter E. Babcock was born to Maurice P. and Blanche Babcock on March 21, 1922, and was raised in the Springfield area of Bon Homme County. Walter attended three years of high school at Springfield and spent his final year at "Aggie School at State College." He then enrolled at the University of South Dakota for a year; while there he was in ROTC training.

Babcock enlisted in the Army Infantry on September 22, 1943, at Fort Crook in Nebraska. Walter was trained at Camp Fannin in Texas and from New York was shipped overseas to the European theater of operations on April 7, 1944. He arrived in England where he received further training in preparation for the D-Day Invasion.

Walter went in "with the Normandy Invasion on June 6." and was one of the lucky ones to actually come out of the invasion without being wounded or even killed. While in Europe, he was slightly wounded on August 9, 1944, received his first Purple Heart, and was then sent back into active combat in September 1944.

On October 19, 1944 Walter was one of the troops of Company B, 18th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division who were involved in the Battle of Aachen. Aachen, was the first major German city which was attacked by Americans. Walter was killed in the vicious street-fighting in Aachen ... The German commander of Aachen surrendered the city only two days after Walter had been killed ... On October 21, 1944, Aachen fell in to the Allied hands ...

These days Walter Babcock rests in the beautiful American Military Cemetery at Henri-Chapelle ... He is remembered and honored by his family, by the people of the State of South Dakota, by every visitor of the Henri-Chapelle cemetery and by everyone who visits the In-Honored-Glory website.