Wallace D. Barkelew was drafted in Shelbina, Missouri on May 8, 1944 at Jefferson Barracks Naval Reserve Station, Saint Louis County. When the recruiter asked which service he preferred, his reply was “the Navy.” When asked why, he said, “because I can swim.”

He was sent to Naval Training Station, Farragut, Idaho for boot camp, then to Construction Battalion Reserve Detachment, Camp Parks, California, in the Livermore Valley. Wallace was attached to the 52nd Seabees, 52nd Naval Construction Battalion and transferred to Pearl Harbor in 1944. In early 1945, he went to Guam, Marianas Islands in the Pacific. At the end of the war, the 52nd was decommissioned and Wallace was transferred to CBMU 502 then the 56th NCB. In April 1946, he went to replacement/separation station, Treasure Island, San Francisco, California then on to Naval Air Station, Saint Louis, Missouri, for discharge in June 1946. He reenlisted there in 1958 and served with the Naval Air Reserve Training Unit at Naval Air Station, Memphis, Tennessee. Wallace retired from the Navy as a Storekeeper 1st class on November 3, 1967 after 22 years active service.

His awards include: the American Area, the WWII Victory Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Theater Campaign Ribbon, the National Defense Medal (second award) and the Good Conduct Medal (five awards).