Bobby Whitaker
Bobby Gene Whitaker was born on July 15, 1933, in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, located in Cleveland County. He was the eldest son of Walter Plato Whitaker and Margaret Carpenter. According to records from the Department of Veteran Affairs, Whitaker enlisted in the Navy on November 14, 1951, and was discharged from the Navy on November 9, 1955. Whitaker spoke often regarding the time he spent aboard the USS Los Angeles.
On September 12, 1957, Whitaker was married to Gladys Conner. On August 29 the following year the couple welcomed their only child – a daughter, Tina.
Bobby Gene Whitaker passed away on April 3, 1982, at the age of 48. He was laid to rest at Mountain Rest Cemetery in Kings Mountain, North Carolina.
According to his widow, Gladys, Whitaker was a modest man who did not speak often about his experiences while in the navy. She described him as being extremely humble throughout his life. She also noted that he was proud to have served in the navy and even more proud when his younger brother, Jacky Dean Whitaker, joined the navy in 1958.
Bobby Whitaker’s military records were stolen from his widow’s home in 2016.
Korean War - Key Events
April 25, 1951
Vastly outnumbered UN forces check the Chinese advance on Seoul at the Battles of Kapyong and the Imjin River. Two Commonwealth battalions—the 2nd Battalion of the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry Regiment and the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment—rebuff an entire Chinese division at Kapyong, and 4,000 men of the British 29th Brigade stage a successful delaying action against nearly 30,000 troops of the Chinese 63rd Army at the Imjin River. Some 650 men of the 1st Battalion, the Gloucestershire Regiment (the “Glorious Glosters”), engage in a Thermopylae-like stand against more than 10,000 Chinese infantry at Imjin. Although the overwhelming majority of the Glosters are killed or captured, their sacrifice allows UN forces to consolidate their lines around the South Korean capital.
These events are taken from the Encyclopedia Britannica
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