1945
The most memorable part of Walker's combat service began in mid-March 1945 when, fresh from navy yard overhaul, she joined Admiral Marc Mitscher's famed Task Force 58 (TF 58) at Ulithi, Caroline Islands. This force proceeded to Kyūshū and Honshū, Japan, for air strikes designed to neutralize and weaken Japanese air power.
Following these strikes, TF 58 proceeded to Okinawa to support the amphibious assault launched there on 1 April 1945. While alone on picket duty 12 miles from the main group, Walker was subjected to persistent Japanese kamikaze attacks. One plane dropped a torpedo just after dark which passed close astern. During that night, Walker's agile maneuvers and accurate guns beat off three more such attacks. On 7 April 1945, Paul Klahr, Gun Captain of 40 mm Gun 43 (starboard midship position), vividly recalls that a Zeke fighter circled the stern and began diving for the bridge from the starboard side of the Walker. The Zeke passed forward of Klahr's gun position by about 20 feet allowing him and his crew to see the face of the pilot. He remembers the pilot's look of fear, facing his impending death. One member of his gun crew actually threw his helmet at the plane as it passed. The plane flew over the ship between the positions of the five inch guns Gun 1 and Gun 2 at an altitude low enough to part the lifelines on the port side before wheeling into the ocean and exploding, sending a solid sheet of water over the Walker mixed with debris from the plane and the shredded remains of its pilot.
After 80 days at sea, the task group returned to port. During this period, Walker towed Haggard to Kerama Retto near Okinawa after she had been damaged by kamikaze hits.
The destroyer continued operations through July and August with the 3d Fleet and encountered no Japanese air opposition. Walker was among the ships which bombarded Kamaishi, Honshū, Japan, on 18 July and made a similar attack at Hammahatsu and a return trip to Kamaishi. The coming of peace resulted in Walker entering Tokyo after a period of air-rescue duty during the airborne phase of the occupation.
On 1 November 1945, Walker arrived from the forward area at San Pedro, California; and, on 31 May 1946, she was placed out of commission, in reserve, at San Diego.
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