### Colorado Springs WWII Veteran, 101, Shares Story of Service, Promises, and a Lifetime in Watchmaking

**COLORADO SPRINGS, CO** – At 101 years old, Walter Knight, a Colorado Springs resident and WWII Army medic, is a living testament to a life shaped by service, promise, and precision. Reflecting on his experiences this October, Knight shared a remarkable story that spans from the battlefields of the Pacific Theater to a long and fulfilling career as a watchmaker, a path he chose to honor the comrades he lost.

Knight’s journey began in 1943 when he was deployed to the Pacific. For 28 months, he served as an Army medic, a role that brought him face-to-face with the profound costs of war. He was often the last person a dying soldier would see, and he made it his solemn duty to provide comfort in their final moments. “I would talk to them eye to eye until they were gone,” Knight recalled.

It was during this intense period that his fellow soldiers, sensing the gravity of their situation, made a request of him. They urged him, “Enjoy life back in the States. Especially you Knight, a married man, have children and think of us.” This plea became a guiding principle for the rest of his life.

After returning to Denver in January 1946, Knight was determined to fulfill that promise. He reunited with his first wife, Cecelia, and together they built a life. They were married for 28 years and raised four children. Knight entered the workforce, earning $70 a week in 1949, and eventually channeled his medic’s steady hand and attention to detail into a career as a watchmaker. He built a successful business, which he ran for decades before selling it in 1976.

Life, however, had more in store for Knight. Years after Cecelia passed away, he reconnected with a woman named Nancy, who was 16 years his junior. The decision to reach out was a momentous one. “I finally went over and knocked on that door, and that was the strangest thing in the whole world,” he said of the encounter. He remembers his simple, direct introduction: “Nancy, this is Wally.”

The two married and have now shared 12 years together. His son, Michael Knight, and a watchmaker apprentice, Micah Regner, are part of his story, witnessing his legacy firsthand.

Looking back, Knight’s reflections are filled with the vivid, unvarnished details of a long life. He remembers the state of military equipment with a wry observation: “It looked like they had just got it out of the junkyard.” He recalls the meticulous, persistent way he trained his replacement before he could come home, shadowing the man relentlessly. “When I went to the latrine, he went to the latrine and I kept that up until they accepted him for my replacement,” he explained.

Even his major life decisions were met with a candid internal monologue. He remembers questioning himself at a pivotal moment, thinking, “What the hell have you done? You got family, you got the house.”

Today, Walter Knight’s story serves as a powerful connection to a generation that sacrificed immensely. He has honored the promise made in the Pacific by building a family, pursuing a skilled trade, and living a full life in the country he fought to protect.