Seaman, US Navy
Enlisted September 1, 1942
Died May 13, 1945
Age 22

Walter Alestek enlisted in the US Navy on September 1, 1942. He was assigned to the destroyer USS Bache (DD-470) which was involved in the battle of Okinawa. He was killed in action on May 13, 1945. The Bache saw combat at Iwo Jima and elsewhere earlier in the war. Ten days prior to Okinawa, it would go to the aid of LSM-R195 (Landing Ship Medium-Rockets) and save seventy-four men.

At Okinawa, kamikaze dive bombers would attack, killing Seaman Alestek and forty other crew members. The Bache stayed afloat, but was powerless and needed to be towed.

Survived by his parents, Mr. & Mrs. Michael Alestek of Wilkes-Bare, PA. He is buried at St. Mary's Cemetery, Hanover, Pennsylvania.

Memorial at Okinawa

Binghamton Press Sun-Bulletin September 8, 1944.