Story about my Uncle Bob the real life spy

My mom, Shirley and her brother Bob.
This is Bob's army picture.
My mom, Shirley, has written the following:

Robert (Bob) Edmonds Walk was born in June of 1918.Bob was my half brother. He was 20 years old when I was born. We were both children of Sarah Eleanor Castle Walk Broughton Wittrup.

When World War Two broke out, Bob joined the United States Army. Bob soon became a member of the "Miliary Intelligence" branch of the service. His life during those those years, and after the war, were secret and dark.

After the fall of Rome, there was a news article, in the "Detroit Times" newspaper. The story was about a parade in Rome, for the American troops. The conquering Commander was in the first Jeep, and my brother Bob was in the second jeep. He was given credit for providing the information for the invasion of Rome, and a lot of the information for the invasion of Italy. After that, we would not hear about him or from him, for years. Mom kept that treasured news articlefor many years, but between 2 changes of addresses, sometimein her old age dotage, it disappeared. She died in 1983, atthe age of 87. The Detroit Times newspaper, went out ofbusiness, many, many, long years ago.

Bob had married a young lady named Connie, before he left for the war. She was a pretty girl, with dark brown hair and blueeyes. She had high prominent cheek bones, like many of the lady movie stars of the time. She had quite a stunning shapely long legged body. She could have been a "Miss America". She concieved Bob's son, Alan Walk, some time while home on leave from the war. He communicated very little with her in his first year away and pretty much nothing, after that. He did pay a good child support, through the army, for Alan, until Alan reach 18 years old. Connie remained friends with his family, although more distantly as the years went by. She had moved to a southern state. I believe it was Tennessee. She divorced Bob and married a man who's last name was "Dillow". He adopted Alan in name only, not legally, but Alan went by the name of Alan Dillow, and I believe he had it legally changed, when he became of age. Its a shame that Bob lost his son along the way, but because of his life style, career, and secret life, He chose to pay the price. Alan was about five years younger than me. I last saw my nephew Alan, when he was about 11 or 12, and Connie brought him up to visit my mom. I have a picture of him as a young married man, and have no knowledge of him now. He was my brother Bob's only child.

Some time during the early 1950's mom wrote the army, and asked about him, as she had not heard from him for over seven years. Several months later, mom recieved a letter from Bob, saying he was OK and to never call the army ever again.

Shortly after, He came to visit us, and brought home his Italianwar bride. While Bob was a Roman in World War Two, He met a woman named Miranda Monachelli. Miranda was from a well to do family.Miranda wasn't as pretty as Connie, but by most standards another winner. Miranda was tall, slender and willowy. She had green eyes, reddish brown hair, and freckles. She was a nice sweet lady. I was a young teenager, when they came to visit mom and my stepfather, Ray Wittrup. The first Pizza Parlor, which is what they called them, had just opened up, in our area, a few months before. I think I went with my step brother Dicky, to "Mama Mia's, to have a slice. I fell in love with it. When Miranda asked if she could cook dinner, I asked for pizza pie. She had never heard of it. Nobody in Italy made it. It was an American invention. I told her what it was, and she did a good job making it. We had pizza for dinner. A few nights later, Bob and Miranda made Veal Marsala, and it is still one of my all time favorite things. I like to have a bottle of Marsala wine in the house, just to make chicken, or veal. And a bottle of Dry Vermouth for salt and pepper mushroom porkchops. Mmmm.

Bob left his bride, here in the States, and returned to the "ColdWar" of the 1950's and 60's. Miranda moved to Wasington D.C. andgot a job with the Italian Embassy. She never saw Bob again. We saw her a few times for visits, and she remain friendly with our family. I believe she died from cancer in the late 1970's. They had no children.

Bob was gone again. Bob was a spy. Bob had special gifts. He was a linguist. He could learn to speak, read and write a language, and have no accent when he spoke. He could do it in a short period of time. Another gift was his very high IQ. He WAS a genius. He was nice looking, but looked like Joe Average. He would never stand out in a crowd. He didn't look like what you would expect a spy to look like.He didn't look like James Bond. He didn't act like James Bond. His life was not glamorous like James bond's. He was just another ordinary guy. What helped him the most, was his friendly personality. He could joke around and drink, and interrogate, and nobody knew what he was up to. He was a master at gathering facts, and confiming them, and nobody, but the right people, knew it. He enjoyed what he did. He said he was going to attend a school out west, in the late 1950's, to learn Greek, but I dont know if it was really Greek, or if he just said that. I don't think he ever went to Greece. He may have not even have gone out west. That may have been a ruse. I know he disappeared again, not to be heard of again for many years. It was another very, very long time before we ever saw him again. Not until he retired.

Bob retired in the late 1960's, because of ill health, and came back to live near our mom. He had 25 years in the service. He had severe diabetes and heart trouble. When he first came back, he lived with me, my husband and kids, for two months,until he found his own place. For some reason, he opened up to me about his life. Bob spoke of his several years in Rome, during the war, living as a Roman. I also found out, while he was staying with me, that he went to Germany after his visit with us, in the late 1950's and lived as a German farmer on the Communist Czechoslovakian border. Many Czech people attempted to flee Czechoslovakia, into Germany, but some were sent to infiltrate Germany. It was his job to find out who. Bob's Farm was used as a safe house, and the Czech escapees were guests in his home. He was the jovial german farmer that fed them and gave them solice and a bed. He knew their language, and would listen to them. He would try speaking to them, and ask little questions. He would be interrogating them and again they would not know it. Most of the time they were legitiment, but sometimes an older child was considered a mole. The kids were indoctrinated very much and sometimes turned their parents in, before they left Czechoslovkia. A lot of the kids didn't realize that they were fleeing to Germany and when they found out where they were, they wanted to go back home. This surprised Bob. He had always known it, but he realized then, How easy it was to control the thoughts of the young, future citizens, with propaganda and indoctrination, and how fragile civilization can be.

Bob was not always a good boy. He earned stripes and lost them, but he never lost the respect of his commanders, or any officer above him. Sometimes, he just drank too much. After a while, it became apparent that his drinking was not a big problem after all.He was used to doing things his way, when he wanted to and how he wanted to. He just made sure to get what had to be done, done,and in the right way and when it needed to be done. He didn't really want anyone to ever know his schedule. I don't know how he passed information on. He did not want to talk about it. He laughed and changed the subject.

Some time in the 1960's, he left the military, and went to workfor the CIA. He felt they were idiots, and had no sense forinvestigation, or information gathering. He lasted there for about3 months. He then Joined the FBI. This was even more of a fiasco for him. He thought that the service was full of glory hounds, who couldn't find their way out of dark room. Again he was there for only a short time. He felt both agencies were run by children, playing at detective work. He rejoined the Military Intelligence, where the real work of protecting the USA was being done. They were happy to have him back.

Sometime during the Vietnam War, Bob worked on ships, going up and down the Mekong river in Vietnam. He stopped in bars and hobnobed with various American, European and Asian civilians. He again interrogated, as a jovial kinda dumb dufus, who had to have a lousy job on the wrong side of the Earth. He uncovereddouble agents, working both sides of the cold war and the Vietnam war. He related a story about meeting Chuck Conners, who play the role of the "Rifleman" on television. The two spent the night in a bar, with an arm around each other,singing song after song. They entertained everyone. Hesaid Chuck was a good guy who came to entertain the troops. One of the most important things he told me, was the fact,that if you asked a hundred people, "Why did America havea war in Vietnam"?, not one of them would know why. He said all anyone has to do, is look at a world map. Above the Straitsof Malacca, was the Malaysian Penninsula. Below the Staitsof Malacca, is the large island of Sumatra, part of Indonesia,and Indonesia was ruled by a communist tyrant named Sukarno.He wanted control of the Malaysian Penninsula, and the Straitsof Malacca. The countries north of the Malaysian penninsula, were in the way. Communist from the north, came down from North Vietnam as a push to have the communist control theMalaysian penninsula and the northern edge of the Malacca Straits. Vietnam was just the route they chose to get there. Now it may seem silly to worry about a little narrow waterway, halfway around the world, but this little waterway had at least ten percent of all U.S. shipping going through it everyday. Ten percent may seem like a small amount, but it would have a terrible domino effect on, not only the American economy, but the whole world. When the the people of Indonesia, rose up and killed Sukarno and the all the communist, in a bloody coup, the Vietnam War became unnecessary, and its why we pulled out. NOT because we lost the war.

It was and still is, the right of the USA and all countries, to have use of all international waters. The USA will protect that right, rather than have sea lanes, one at a time, lost. Even it it means a war. Whether you like that policy or not, you better live with it, for the sake of America's future, and future generations. This was one of the things Bob stood for. One of his policies and thoughts, about the dangers of the enemies of the USA. He spoke of it in reference to Vietnam.

Bob was brought up to be a moral, ethical, law abiding, goodChristian, and good citizen. Some of the things he did in the service of America, weighed heavy on his soul. Bob was never a bragger, and I never caught him in a lie, but then I was dealing with an expert talker. However, he was very remorseful and sad at some of the things he was ordered to do, for all the people who were personally taken out by him. He was plagued for the the stuff he knew, and didn't want to. I think the drinking was a way to forget. He also admitted, that his life was more humdrum than people realized, and yet it had its many moments of extreme excitement.

He mentioned that he personally assinated double agents, who were working for the enemy. He also did in the enemy. He did so on orders. As a good soldier, at war, he obeyed orders.Once, he got a job as a coal shoveler, on an old tub, transporting an agent to his supposed destination. The guy was a double agent and was aiding and abetting the enemy. There was no trial for treason, during the cold war, especially during the Vietnam war. Bob drank with him one evening, got him drunk, and they went out on deck, to the rail, to look at the stars. A whackon the back of the head, and a shove over the rail, in the middle of the ocean, was all it took.

He mentioned the suspence and terror of standing in a doorway, or behind a pillar, or just hiding from someone. You had to hide your breath cloud, in the cold night air. You had to let your nose run, without wiping or blowing it. You had to stiffle a cough, which was hard to do, and God help you if you blew a noisy fart. Also, being in areas that were off limits to him, and not being seen, and meeting a person or people who were dangerous. He mentioned, his life was intrigue, and the book " The spy who came in from the cold" was his life story. I think he meant itfiguratively. He said the trials and tribulations in the book, were the same for him. He did things for this country, that willnever be known, and he gave his life for the career of it. He gave up a son that he loved, for it. He gave up two women, that he loved for it. He gave them all up, because he knew he could not give them a life. He was one of the very few, who had the talent, to do what he did, to aid the United States of America. He is an unknown hero. There are others.

I remember my mom telling me, many years before, that Bob could conduct a symphony orchestra, when he was a child. He loved symphony orchestra music all his life. When he retired and stayedwith me, he would have a little drink or two, or three or moreand listen to symphonys and wave his hands, the right one, with a pretend baton, or a soda straw, and know where the string and reed sections were and the the brass sections too. He would point to them and call them up with an inward wave of his hand, or quiet them down with a pat downward, both actions with his left hand. He had the right rhythm, He knew the upstrokes and especially the correct down beats. I played the violin for 9 school years, so I knew my brother Bob did a fantastic job. He could conduct for hours and entertained himself joyfully. He would sing, if the music was from an opera, and he knew the words. Sometimes he would sing in Italian. He had a wonderful voice. He would entertain me. Shortly after he left my home and found a place of his own, histhird wife Kazako, came from Japan and joined him. She spoke almost no english. But of course, Bob spoke Japanese. We all took Kazako to our heart. She had a hard time communicating. Herenglish was not happening. She was unhappy and missed her family.She attended to Bob and was a good wife. His home was about a mile east of our mom's home. He was there, for about three years, when he had a massive heart attack and died fast. It was spring of 1972. He was 53 years old, almost 54. Kazako went back to Japan. He had never divorced Miranda and was still legally married to her, when he legally married Kazako with the sanctions of the U.S. government. Both widows got his full pension and health care.Bob was a good and kind man, at least the Bob I knew. I loved him.May his soul rest in peace.

Shirley Anne Broughton Moser May 8, 2009

Another story from Shirley Moser about her brother Bob

My half-brother Bob Walk, was a member of the army. He was a Military Intelligence Spy for 25 years. He was a brilliant man.

We moved to Lake Tyrone July 7th, 1971, from Livonia Mi. I had lived about 5 miles west, from my retired brother Bob Walk, when we lived in Livonia.

A few weeks into my new place on Lk Tyrone, in Hartland, Bob and Kazako, came to visit me for an afternoon and a Barbeque. I was in the kitchenand Bob came in, and we started some small talk while I was gettingthings ready.

Bob let me in on another one of his life secrets. He was into decipheringthe quatrains of Nostradamus. Nostradamus lived from 1503 to 1566. Thedictionary states that he was an french astrologer, but he was also a physician. A medical Doctor who was a psychic. I heard he used a crystal ball. Nobody believes in that crap, RIGHT???

Well, Bob soon did. The more he read, the more he deciphered, the more he realized, that Nostradamus had correctly predicted historical events thatcame true, long after Nostradamus was dead. Bob knew his history, so whenthings fell into place, that Nostradamus knew ahead of time, he became a believer. Ancient people fortold the future and were called prophets. They were given credit for having been told by God. Bob asked himself, has God stopped talking to us?, or are there special people, that recieve his messages, maybe when in another state of mind.

Bob stood there in my kitchen, in the summer of 1971, and began to tell me what will happen, in the very near future, as he had deciphered it from the Quatrains of Nostradamus. As far as I know, I am the only one who hetold. I was made privy to something so very special and so absolutly mind boggling.

He told me, that in the 1990's, we would have a small war in the MiddleEast. He said not to worry, that it would be over fast. A few days to a few weeks, and we would be successful.

He told me, that in the 1990's, the long war between the eagle and the bear,would come to an end, when the eagle blinded the bear, with his talons, and the bear starved to death and died. America would win the "Cold war", and the Soviet Union would disolve. Russia would lose the the countries, it held in it's grip, since World War Two. He said, that the wall around Berlinwould be torn down and Germany would be unified.

He told me, that in the first year of the new Millenium, it will becomeapparent that all the small attacks on America, were more ominous, than most people realized. He said World War Three would begin with the assination of two twin brothers, in New York City. He said, that he had been searching Schools and colleges, trying to find these two boys, but had no luck. He assumed, that they would be from a family of wealth or power. He said that the war would be started by a man wearing a blue turbin. At that time, the Shah of Iran was on shaky ground, and Bob was concerned about the stability of that country. He thought that it was a good possibility, that the shah would not be in power much longer. He also said that the the throne of Iran was called the Peacock Throne, and the color Peacock Blue, may have signifigance. Bob was very troubled by what he was saying. He was very upset by what hehad decerned to be true. I was taking it all in, in wonderment, awe, and alittle disbelief. Bob stated that Europe would be devastated and eventually over run. Russiawould try to ally itself with the MiddleEast, but it also would fall.

Still believing in the invinciblity of the USA, I asked "We will still win the war, Won't we?. A big cloud came over his face. "All I can tell you", he said, "is that the world will never be the same. How it is now, will be gone." Bob died months later, in the spring of 1972. He could never have found the twin boys, because the twin towers were not built until the year 1984. He would never know about the downfall of the Shah of Iran. He never knewabout the American Embassy hostages, held for 444 days, in Iran, and that the evil ringleader of the Iranian hostage situation, is now the president of Iran. He never saw the president of the Taliban, in Afghanistan, wearing a blue turbin, but I did. Osama went to Afghanistan and was a disciple of theman in the blue turbin. Iran bothered Bob. The man in the blue turbin bothered Bob. Now the Talibin are pushing to get Pakistani's nuclear weapons, and Iran is gearing up its nuclear facilities.

I see the European culture disolving as I speak. Its christian birthrate isunsustainable to survive. Islam is growing at Indy500 speed. Europe as we know it, has less than 50 years. Russia is now feeling the same effects. All the wars in Africa, for the last ten years, and right now, are from the invasions of Islam. In the east, India is feeling the threat to its civilization.

The Americas are asleep, and its not much of a concern to them. Only the U.S. was attacked. No big deal to them. Their small pockets of Muslims are causing no problems. China feels it is too big to worry, and they are asleep too. Asleep as they are, they sleep with one eye open. Something is going on.Nothing to worry about now, so life goes on.

I'm afraid, that even with the attack of 9/11, most Americans here in thegood old U.S., want to get on with things and put the past behind them. 9/11 has become just an incident.

I remember Bob's words "How it is now, will be gone"

Shirley Anne Broughton Moser May 14, 2009

Story from Shirly Moser (My mother)

2008 Feburary 8th friday evening, I experienced one of those once in a lifetime events, that few people ever get to do. Ray and I went to Northville Downs, a race track in Northville Michigan, a small town suburb of Detroit MI. Northville Downs is a harness horse racing track. Harness racing is where a little two wheeled cart called a sulky is pulled by the horse. The person in the sulky is called a driver, not a jockey. The race track was having a special evening and everyone put their name in a drum. Five people were called from that drum, and one of them was Ray. They were given a chance to spin a wheel. Some of the chances were for tickets for Red Wing games, and free wagering tickets. One of the prizes was a ride in the official car during a race. Ray won that one, and he was allowed to bring me as his guest. The official car looked like a modified SUV, with a gate attached to the back of the car. The gate is like wings. When they are spread out, the gate is a wall that the horses come up to, and start the race from. When they are not spread out, the wings move forward and cover up the doors, so you can't get in or out of the car. It was about 10pm and a cold Feburary night. We walked out from the club house to the track and the driver opened the gate wings enough for us to get into the car. There was an opening between the 2 front seats and i crawled up between them and up a step to an small area with 2 stools. Ray sat in the passenger side of the front seat. The poor guy was just not going to get the view that i was in for. There was an older gent at the wheel in front,and another older gent sitting on a stool on my left, and we were facing backwards. The horses would be racing on my right. We moved in the car to the opposite side of the track. We were there for about 5 minutes while the gent next to me explained how everything works. The driver in front only steers. The guy in back, next to me controls the speed with a little brass lever, He controls the gate with another like same lever. He pressed a button and an annoucement of 2 minutes to start blared out to the drivers,and then he opened the gate. It was amazing to see the gate opening a few feet in front of me. All the drivers and horses had been out, prancing and pacing around for a warm up. Then another push of a button and an announcement of one minute. The horses started to manuver closer to the gate. Some were quite a distance. He open up the window in front of me and i was surprised at the awesome smells and sounds. The horses were coming up to the gate and they were only a couple of feet from me. I could smell their breath as they snorted. I could almost reach out and touch them, they were so close. They had excitment in their eyes, and their bodies were alive with excitement too. The car began to move slowly and then began to pick up speed as the drivers jockied the horses into the correct gate position and trying to keep the nose of their horse as close to the gate as possible. The sound of their hooves was loud and exciting. The car went half way around the track to the starting-finish line in front of the club house and then sped up and away from the horses, folding up the wings to the side of the car and moving the car to the outside of the track. We continued to drive along side the horses as they raced, about 10 or 12 feet away, close to the outside wall. The car paces the horses and has 4 different cameras to record any objections or inquiries. I was amazed at the amount of noise the horses and drivers make. The horses breathing and snorting, hooves clip clopping,sulky wheels and leather sounds, whips banging on the metal struts of the sulkies and the whistles, hoots and yelling by the drivers. It was the most thrilling combined sound i have ever heard. I realized the horses were really into this. I asked the gent next to me if the horses like racing and he said they know exactly what it's all about and get all excited before the race starts and are indeed really into it. I know i have seen horses give up when they get passed. Its a mind game for them too. I asked how fast they are racing, because we seemed to be going fast, especially around the curves. He said we were going about 35 mph or more. The average speed of the pacers is about 35 mph sometimes a little more. Trotters are a little slower. We went around the track twice for a mile and then it was over. Too fast - Too soon. I wanted more. Alas... It was such an awesome experience.
Thanks for listening to me.Shirl

My first post

Well, what should I say? It is a Sunday and I do not have to work for once. I have Monday off, also. We will do FHE. The summer has been hard to have regular FHE and daily scripture study because everyone are always on different schedules. I am looking forward to school starting so we can all get on a schedule again. I am working at Walmart now that it is summer. I was substitute teaching but of course that ended when school ended. I was home every night. With Walmart I am usually working at night. I am a cashier but I took the supervisor leadership assessment and I passed so I applied for a new zone supervisor position that is coming open. I also volunteered to move to the sales floor in housewares. Either would be good. I like cashiering but I have more skills than that and would like to use them. I have seen how a person can advance at Walmart. Both Martha and Sara were/are advancing at Walmart. I will stay at Walmart until something better comes along.

I was hoping to start classes in Aug. I only have five more classes to do to get my Bachelors Degree in Management. It costs $600 a class and I am not sure where I will get the money.

I have been called to the Primary. I have CTR 7's which is six yr olds turning seven. I am enjoying them. I miss Relief Society, though.

My garden is doing well. I froze a ton of snow peas. More than we will eat probably. Now the green beans are starting to get big enough to pick. I cannot decide if I want to can them or freeze them. Maybe some of both. I have been getting zuccini from only one plant. I have been picking them small. The other zuccini plant is producing flowers but no fruit. The potatoe plants are dying which is ok. The potatoes are ok in the ground until I get around to digging them. The tomatoe plants are full of green tomatoes. The cucumbers got a late start so only lots of flowers so far. The peppers are full of flowers and some are starting to grow. I have jalepenos and bell peppers. We ate some of the carrots for dinner tonight. We have one cabbage that Triniti brought home as a seedling. We planted it and it is ready to be picked but I will wait until next week when Triniti returns home from her visit to Aunt Heathers house.

I got all three doe rabbits bred this week. One doe has had two litters and she let them die because she ignored them. This will be her third and last chance. I am planning on making rabbit stew if she continues to eat my food and not produce. The three does are due at the same time so maybe I can foster some of the babies back and forth. The two does and the male have finally reached breeding age. I am so excited to get some baby rabbits and be on my way to having rabbit meat. I feel self sufficient raising my own food. Also, the meat will be without hormones and antibiotics. Roger does not want to butcher the rabbits so I will have to do it my self. I am ok with that. I want to do chickens next year for the eggs. Our neighbor is doing chickens.

Roger applied for a job in San Diego, CA. It will be a promotion. We will use the increase in pay to live there but hopefully in a year or two we can get back to UT. We will keep our house here. Martha and Sara will live here and take care of the house while we are in CA. Rogers retirement pay is based on his highest three years earnings. Therefore, we want to make sure his earnings are as high as possible so his retirement pay will be as high as possible. We are not sure if he will be picked for the job but if he is I guess I will have to do something with the rabbits. I am finally getting them to breeding age so I hate to give it up but I will just do what I have to do.
Thanks for reading about my life and feel free to post something about your life.