Lester Ray Walters was born at Big Spring, Howard County, Texas on December 5, 1920. This is the date recorded in his Individual Deceased Personnel File, as noted on the back of his headstone application. The front of his headstone application shows his date of birth as December 4, 1921, which was inscribed in error on his headstone.

He was one of at least nine children of William Andrew Walters Sr (often called Andrew) (11 Feb 1897 – 11 Feb 1991), who was born at Mena, Polk County, Arkansas; and Jessie Leona (Hazel) Walters (12 Sep 1896 – 20 May 1950), who was born at Denton County, Texas. His parents married at Mena, Arkansas on January 22, 1916. The family lived initially at Mena and Potter Junction, Arkansas, and then at Bokchito, Bryan County, Oklahoma for a time. They moved to Big Spring, Texas in 1920. By 1930 the family lived at San Angelo, Tom Green County, Texas. By 1944 his parents lived at 1108 West Elm in Breckenridge, Stephens County, Texas. His father was a windmill mechanic and later worked at a retail hardware store.

He graduated from high school at San Angelo, Texas about 1940. During that year he worked as a telegraph messenger. He registered for the draft at El Paso, Texas on February 16, 1942. He was 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighed 123 pounds, and had gray eyes and brown hair. At that time he lived in Fabens, El Paso County, Texas, where he worked as a telegraph operator and dispatcher for the Southern Pacific Railway. He was married when he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps at San Antonio, Texas on October 3, 1942. He was divorced at the time of his death.

He completed Army Air Forces bombardier training in Class 43-14 at Big Spring, Texas, and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant on October 7, 1943. He was then assigned to the heavy bomber crew of Lt Henry L. Duerr in the 836th Bomb Squadron of the 487th Bomb Group. The Duerr crew completed B-24 crew training with the 487th Bomb Group at Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico, and deployed with the Group to England in March 1944. They flew B-24H 42-52761 from Alamogordo, New Mexico to Lavenham, England via the southern Atlantic ferry route—a journey of about 10,000 miles—and arrived at Lavenham by mid-April 1944. The 487th Bomb Group was based at Army Air Forces Station 137 near Lavenham, Suffolk, England, and was part of the 8th U.S. Army Air Force in Europe.

On June 20, 1944, he flew with pilot Lt Edgar Fuller and air leader Maj Lyndall J. 'Si' Avery on the 487th Bomb Group mission to bomb an oil refinery at Misburg near Hanover, Germany. Lt John Bejian, Lt Duerr's original navigator, flew with him on this mission. Lt Bejian was killed in action during the bomb run when flak penetrated the nose of the aircraft and struck him in the head.

He was later promoted to First Lieutenant and assigned to the crew of Lt Paul M. Stults in the 836th Bomb Squadron. In July 1944 the 487th Bomb Group transitioned from flying the B-24 'Liberator' to the B-17 'Flying Fortress'. On July 20, 1944, the Stults crew flew a training mission in one of the new aircraft, B-17G 43-37840.

Lt Walters and four other men aboard the B-17 perished when their aircraft collided with Lt Ozbolt's B-24H 42-51197, which was on a practice bombing mission at the Ducks Hall bombing range near Lavenham. The B-24 spun in and crashed near Cavendish, England. Five men died in the crash. Lt Stults, his left wing on fire, attempted to reach Lavenham Airfield, but a fuel tank in the left wing exploded and the wing came off. The aircraft spun to the ground and crashed in a wheat field near the Officers Club and Clapstile Farmhouse.

Lt Walters was buried initially at Cambridge American Cemetery near Madingley, England. His remains were returned to the United States and reinterred in the Walters family plot at Breckenridge Cemetery, Texas on January 20, 1949.

B-17G 42-37840 crew:
• Stults, Paul M – 1/Lt – Pilot – KIA
• Thomas Jr, Eldridge W – 2/Lt – Copilot – KIA
• Parris, Howard L – Lt – Navigator – Safe
• Heil, Charles A – 2/Lt – Navigator – KIA
• Walters, Lester R – 1/Lt – Bombardier – KIA
• Brown, Melvin R – T/Sgt – Engineer – Safe
• Schaffer, Charles L – Sgt – Radio Operator – Safe
• Knight, Frank M – Sgt – Gunner – Safe
• Brown, Julius E – Sgt – Gunner – Safe
• Castillo, Pete J – T/Sgt – Autopilot Mechanic – KIA
• Grantham, Russell A – Lt – Squadron Bombardier – Safe

Source of information: Paul M. Webber, www.findagrave.com