Sad indeed. But he'll have a beautiful last resting place now that Wal-Mart's allowed to tear down an entire subdivision so as to build a park to bury him in.
-Dan
Posted on 06/27/2005 7:54:07 PM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
Wal-Mart billionaire John Walton dies in plane crash
55 minutes ago
WASHINGTON (AFP) - John Walton, a billionaire heir of retail giant Wal-Mart, died when the small home-made plane he was flying crashed in a national park in Wyoming, authorities said.
Walton's plane crashed at 12:20 pm local time (1820 GMT) shortly after taking off from Jackson Hole Airport in Grand Teton National Park, the National Park Service said in a statement. The cause of the accident was not immediately known.
"Walton, the pilot and sole occupant of the aircraft, died on impact and was later pronounced dead at the scene by Teton County Coroner, Bob Campbell," the statement said.
A park spokeswoman said Walton, 58, was an experienced pilot who was flying a home-made aircraft with an aluminum frame and wings wrapped in fabric similar to heavy-duty sail cloth.
"This was an experimental, very lightweight aircraft," the spokeswoman, Joan Anzelmo, told AFP. It weighed between 400 and 500 pounds (180 to 225 kilograms), she said.
The Park Service's statement described it as an "ultralight aircraft with a small, gas-powered engine."
Weather conditions were good at the time of the crash, Anzelmo said.
Walton, the second son of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, was the world's 11th richest person with a net worth exceeding 18 billion dollars, according to Forbes magazine.
He had been a member of Wal-Mart's board of directors since 1992 and lived in Jackson, Wyoming, a town known as a resort for wealthy Americans.
In a statement, Wal-Mart expressed sorrow over his death and described Walton as a Vietnam War hero and philanthropist.
"As a board member of the Walton Family Foundation, Walton played a leading role in guiding the Foundations contributions to elementary and high school education, including scholarship programs to provide parents with greater choice in education," it said.
Walton served as a medic in the US Army Green Berets during the Vietnam War and was awarded the Silver Star "for saving the lives of several members of his unit while under intense enemy fire," the company said.
He worked as a crop duster in the 1970s and as a boat builder in 1980s and 1990s.
Walton formed the holding company True North, which includes businesses ranging from advanced composites to boat building to venture capital investments, Wal-Mart said.
He is survived by his wife Christy and their son, Luke; his mother Helen; and his siblings Rob, Jim and Alice.
Wal-Mart employs more than 1.5 million people around the world, with more than 3,600 stores in the United States and another 1,500 abroad, including China, South Korea, Germany, Brazil and Britain.
Same kind of X plane that killed John Denver?
Liberals rejoice.
A man's man. Prayers for the Walton Family.
re: John Denver
No
"Liberals rejoice."
My initial reaction, exactly. (I am very sorry, though, to hear the nears. Condolences to his family.)
Agreed.
The man had some serious dust to be fooling around in an ultralight.
I've seen some that you couldn't pay me to fly.
Here's the link. R.I.P. Mr. Walton.
dittos. May those of his squadmates who crossed over before him now welcome him into heaven with open arms and an American warrior's embrace.
Apparently so do a few "conservatives" judging by some posts I scanned through elsewhere.
Link to another post with amazing detail on this hero.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1431891/posts?page=255#255
wow. A True War Hero.
Is anyone thinking suicide? That was the first thing I thought of.
All that and a war hero to boot.
May he find eternal peace...
Semper Fi
I read his bio earlier. A true hero. He was also an enemy of the left because he gave millions for school choice programs to help minorities get out from those dumbed down liberal democrat run schools.
No! Why would you?
And, sad to say, so do a lot of FReepers.
Charitable man as well.
I knew very little about him before his death. Learning of his life, the extent of the loss builds. Fine man, must be very hard for his family.
Shame people buy into the sterotypes about these people because they are successful, yet know next to nothing about the real sum of the man or woman to make a sound judgement.
Thank you.
May he rest in Peace.
Liberals rejoice.
And, sad to say, so do a lot of FReepers.
No one should rejoice over this man's death. It's tragic.
I don't agree with some of the things the Waltons do, but I NEVER wish for anyone's death. Those who gloat over it are not that high in my book.
Sad to say. There are a lot of jealous, envious freepers who can't stand anyone who has a dollar more than they do. They buy into the evil rich crap that the left spews out on a daily basis.
Okay, I didn't even look at that. It's YOU again:).
So true. It is sad.
"Wonder if he left a widow..." perhaps?
Sad to say. There are a lot of jealous, envious freepers who can't stand anyone who has a dollar more than they do. They buy into the evil rich crap that the left spews out on a daily basis.
I sure don't mind the Waltons having more money nor do I mind the sales tax revenue they are going to bring in once they get here (which means less taxes for me and all the other homeowners). They did force my wife's small business out though. There are other things that I do mind about them too, but I don't go for the jugular. My wife didn't either. I shop there from time to time, but I can usually find what I need closer for the time being and not worth the extra time (the lines go on and on and on sometimes at the checkstands) required to go to the nearest Walmart. We'll see when the one comes here though.
You have to be pretty shallow to do so I think.
It is not that unusual. Men may use accidental death more commonly as a type of suicide, also because of the insurance issues.I am certainly not saying that was the case here, but not knowing Walton's personal circumstances it was a thought that occurred.
Remember when KMart was the biggest dog on the block? I never saw the bile spewed about them like I do about Walmart. and what about Target? They are no different. But I don't see all the anti Target crap posted everywhere.
We agree! (this is getting tedious, isn't it?)
No, just a lot that despise anything that has to do with WalMart.
It is interesting, isn't it. I do think that Walmart takes a more agressive approach. I actually liked the Kmart down the street as a kid. We used to count how many blue light specials there were in an hour.
Yup - it's me AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!
But maybe we can actually argue this time, because I happen to like WalMart :)
Nor I, that being said I can't help but wonder if if was a chinese engine.
I suppose that makes me a bad man, but there it is.
Yeah. I remember when the new Pope was elected and the people at DU were hoping he would die fast. Sicko's ... all of 'em.
That is sick. The only deaths really worth gloating over are terrorists. I don't really gloat over them, but any one of them that's gone means one less trying to kill us.
Nor I, that being said I can't help but wonder if if was a chinese engine.
I suppose that makes me a bad man, but there it is.
Oh my goodness (shaking head).....
-Dan
We agree! (this is getting tedious, isn't it?)
I think I will be reincarnated as you.
This is sad. But why should we care about this? What did he ever do for the conservative cause?
Walmart does cause some businesses to go under. BUT they do also benefit other businesses, particularly some local suppliers. One thing that does get overlooked is that a big box company like Walmart brings in other things like restaurants (besides fast-food, my town has one), other big box stores (the Home Depot and Lowe's are locating in my town because of Walmart), and various other entities. The commercial part of town will be more than doubled once the Walmart is built in a year or so.
My wife had a small clothing store in a sort of outlet mall that was located in an old hardware store. Once they did, Walmart suddenly became interesting in acquiring in it (though they had taken no interest in it before when it had been vacant a long time). All of a sudden there were new regulations being put in the way. A big wall had to be completely torn down and rebuilt because it was over 3 inches too far. They had to have so many "benches" yes benches per square foot in the building and so on and so on. Walmart soon sued to acquire the building. It opened and my wife's business did pretty decent for a few months, but Walmart kept up the pressure in court. Finally, they got their way and got their building to supposedly build their supercenter (it is just down from the Walmart store). But a year later or so, they still have not done anything with it.
It was interesting that several people who had opposed the construcion of Walmart here were actually caught shopping in another Walmart.
I wonder what John Kerry's reaction is - after all the guy was worth much more than John Heinz.
Well, apart from the Silver Star, he was not able to get a Purple Heart per month!?!
There are lots of good people who die who might not have "done somthing for the conservative cause." Doing so, doesn't necessarily make one's death more noble over some other people. However, doing such, probably demonstrates that one probably did well in life and worked to benefit others for good. THAT is noble if done in the right vein.
If indeed he was a decorated vet, he did plenty for the conservative cause in my book. (now don't bring up John McCain, okay!!!!!! That's for another day in another thread.).
You are a funny person, my FRiend.
I am truly sorry about the demise of your wife's business. That had to be rough, in very many ways. I also do not doubt that Walmart coming into the area played a significant part in said demise. I really hate hearing about situations like that, because my experiences with WM have all been the opposite - the small, specialized businesses have thrived because of WM coming to the area. I have actually learned about some small businesses I would never have known of because the Walmart people directed me to them when they didn't have what I was looking for.
Oh good grief, don't do that - neither your wife or my husband could handle it :)
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