Victor Walker, Career Navy Officer and Vietnam Veteran

Victor Walker, an 18-year resident of Sierra Vista and career Navy veteran who served in Vietnam, is Gabrielle Giffords’ supporter of the week. “I like her coolness under fire. She knows how to take care of business,” he said. “She’ll hit the ground running when she gets to Congress.” About his involvement in politics to try to change the direction of our country, he said: “It’s my responsibility. I better put action to what my words are.”

Victor was born and raised in Rock Island, IL, a town on the banks of the Mississippi River. From fifth through eighth grades, he attended a military academy. “It was the best thing that ever happened to me,” he said, referring to the structure and routine.

When he was 20, Victor enlisted in the Navy, and went on to serve as a cryptologist for the duration of his career. After boot camp in San Diego, he was stationed in Washington, D.C. and in Honolulu, before being shipped to Vietnam. Victor served in Vietnam for 11 months, aboard the U.S.S. Oxford, an intelligence ship.

Victor returned from Vietnam unscathed by injury, and after the war he was stationed in Pensacola, FL, and later at the Naval Air Station in the Aleutian Islands town of Adak, Alaska — the southernmost town in Alaska, and the second-westermost town in the United States. He was subsequently stationed in San Diego, where he worked on the Navy’s first satellite communication system. There he met the woman who would become his wife, Susan, and they were married in 1980. Susan worked in the Department of Defense School system as a librarian until the birth of their daughter, Catherine.

After San Diego, Victor and Susan were stationed in Skaggs Island in the northern Bay Area of San Francisco, where he was a software development manager for TACINTEL. Their last assignment was in London, where he was the Command Master Chief at the Naval Communications Unit, which serves as the communications group for Commander-In-Chief Naval Forces in Europe.

In 1988, Victor retired from the Navy. Later that year, he, Susan and Catherine moved to Sierra Vista and have lived there ever since. After his naval service, Victor worked for various defense contractors at the Electronic Proving Ground at Fort Huachuca.

Victor became involved in politics when it became apparent that the Bush Administration was going to lead our country into war with Iraq. Troubled by the government’s decision to invade Iraq, Victor retired from his job with a defense contractor in May of 2003 and began getting involved with the Democratic Party. “I couldn’t believe that we were going to war,” Victor said. “I thought I should do something about it.” He became First Vice Chair of Cochise County’s Democratic Party, and then County Chair, when the former county chair retired.

When Congressman Jim Kolbe retired, Victor was searching for the right candidate to support. “The two questions in my mind were Health Care and Iraq,” he said. The health care issue was particularly important to Victor because he had to resign his position as Cochise County Chair due to being diagnosed with cancer. He beat the illness, but feels he wouldn’t have if it hadn’t been for a timely diagnosis. “What do people do without health care?” he asked. “Do they just die? This would have happened to me. They caught it just in time. But what do people do if they don’t have health care?”

Victor believes in expanding health care so that every man, woman and child has access to it, and supports Gabrielle because she shares his beliefs. “You have to have the political will to do that,” he said.

Victor admires Giffords for her character, constitution, and experience. “I like her coolness under fire,” he said. “I like the fact that she is professional. She knows how legislation is crafted, how to get it through, why it doesn’t get through, and how to take care of business. She’ll hit the ground running when she gets to Congress.”

For hobbies, Victor is interested in model railroading and mathematics. His daughter, Catherine, is currently a senior at Northern Arizona University.