RIP - Vern Walden (MSG, US Army Special Forces, Retired)

Vernon Walden, age 89, MSG, U.S. Army Retired, formally of Greenville, South Carolina died on November 17, 2016 in El Paso, Texas. He was the last surviving member of his immediate family and a member of Special Forces Chapter Association IX, El Paso, Texas.

Vern served over 25 years in the Army. First in the Korean War with D Company, 1st Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division where he was wounded thus earning a Purple Heart as well as a Combat Infantryman's Badge and Bronze Star.

He earned his Parachute Wings in 1957, then served as a Jump School Instructor before volunteering for Special Forces and serving with the 7th and 5th Special Forces Groups until his retirement in 1971. While serving three combat tours in Vietnam Vern earned his second Bronze Star and a second award of the coveted Combat Infantryman's Badge.

Vern was a member of El Maida Shrine Temple, El Paso Scottish Rite of Freemasonry 32nd degree, York Rite Bodies El Paso, BPOE Lodge #856, Loyal Order of Moose, Lodge #749, Veteran of Foreign Wars #10330, Empire Lodge #213 A.F.M., The American Legion Post #3, and was a Life Member of the Military Order of the Purple Heart and the 82nd Airborne Division Association (Benavidez Patterson) Chapter El Paso, Texas.

He is survived by his two daughters, Polly and Carol. Services are pending. Memorials may be made to Shriner's Hospital for Children , 950 W. Faris Road, Greenville, South Carolina, 29605 or to one's choice.

Friends can go to the El Paso Times Obituary page to write a memory of Vern.