Sidney Walton, 102, one of America's last WWII vets, regretted missing a chance to meet Civil War veterans; so he began this No Regrets Tour to all 50 states, meeting every governor and giving everyone an opportunity to meet a WWII veteran before they're all gone.
Click button, or Venmo to @sidneywalton
February 11, 2021
Sidney Walton was born February 11th, 1919, in New York City. At 22 he joined the Army, eager to fight the Nazis. Sidney enlisted 80 years ago THIS MARCH, eight months before Pearl Harbor.
In 1944, his unit shipped out to Europe, but Sidney had to stay behind, recovering from a training accident. His unit ended up in the Battle of the Bulge and Sidney never heard from them again.
Sidney was assigned to the China-Burma-India (CBI) theater of combat, where he served as a corporal and medical technician in the 34th Infantry, 8th Division, and remained until the war's end.
After returning home, Sidney taught geology at Duke University and pursued graduate studies in geology at Yale. Eight years after WWII he met the love of his life, Rena Bell, in Boston. They married, and had a son Paul in 1955, then moved to Bangor, Maine, where they had two daughters, Judy and Ellie, while Sidney worked as a civilian at Dow Air Force Base.
The family moved to San Diego in 1960, where Sidney worked for the federal government at North Island Naval Air Station and other defense facilities. He retired after Rena's death from cancer in 1982.
Sidney always regretted missing a chance to meet Civil War veterans during the 1939 World's Fair in New York City. In 2018 he decided to make up for this regret. At the young age of 99, he set off with his son Paul on a "No Regrets Tour" with the goal of giving as many Americans as possible the chance to meet a World War II veteran before they too are all gone.
Therefore he is visiting all 50 governors in all 50 states, bringing attention to the rapidly shrinking number of World War II veterans and the sacrifices they made to save this country.
Sidney's journey has been full of surprises: He met the presidents of the U.S. and France, was honored at the 2020 Super Bowl, spotlighted on the Today Show, and World News Tonight, and received the 2020 Patriot Award for the entire country. Sidney humbly reminds the world that such honors are really for the millions of men and women who bravely served during WWII; he is simply one living representative.
Click button, or Venmo to @sidneywalton
GOVERNORS WHO HAVE HONORED SIDNEY
4-24-18 (RI) Gina Raimondo video
4-30-18 (MA) Charlie Baker video
5-4-18 (ME) Paul LePage video
5-10-18 (CT) Dannel Malloy article
5-18-18 (NY) Andrew Cuomo video
5-24-18 (NJ) Phil Murphy photo
5-28-18 (IN) Eric Holcomb (and Indy 500) video
6-11-18 (NE) Pete Ricketts article/video
6-19-18 (TN) Bill Haslam article/video
6-26-18 (KY) Matt Bevin video
7-3-18 (IL) Bruce Rauner (honored at Wrigley - video)
7-11-18 (FL) Rick Scott article/video
9-25-18 (AK) Bill Walker video
10-5-18 (HI) David Ige video
10-17-18 (WA) Jay Inslee video
10-22-18 (OR) Kate Brown video
12-11-18 (LA) John Edwards video
12-17-18 (MS) Phil Bryant video
12-18-18 (TX) Greg Abbott video
4-26-19 (SC) Henry McMaster video
5-2-19 (MO) Mike Parson video
6-24-19 (NC) Roy Cooper video
7-29-19 (CA) Gavin Newsom article/video
11-5-19 (VT) Phil Scott video
11-7-19 (NH) Chris Sununu video
11-15-19 (MD) Larry Hogan video
3-9-20 (NV) Steve Sisolak video
3-26-20 (AZ) Doug Ducey video
6-2-20 (UT) Gary Herbert video
6-8-20 (WY) Mark Gordon video
6-12-20 (MT) Steve Bullock video
6-19-20 (ID) Brad Little video
8-13-20 (AR) Asa Hutchinson video
8-17-20 (GA) Brian Kemp video
11-13-20 (VA) Ralph Northam video
Click button, or Venmo to @sidneywalton