Walter Chronert wears many feathers in his cap. Not only did he serve as Los Altos Postmaster from 1965 to 1979, but his years of community service, time and devotion have brought many prestigious honors. His cheerful and positive approach to life and his ability to do what is needed to achieve a goal, was evident even at the earliest stages of his life and his career.
"I was based at Presidio Monterey in 1943. I established the military post office there. In no time, we had that working just as smooth as it could be. I got a call one day that I was being assigned to go to Camp Beal in Utah, because they were having a postal problems. They said, "We need a hotshot that can go over there and straighten things out."
There were about 35,00-40,000 soldiers at Camp Beal. I went in to report to the General, and he said, "I'm not getting my mail for two weeks after it comes into the city. I hope you're the guy who can straighten this thing out. I don't care what you have to do! I just want my damn mail here on my desk every morning like it should be!"
There were a lot of barracks for space to work, but it was hard to find people. There were no unassigned soldiers, they were all attached to a division.
The next day I was walking down the street, thinking about my new challenge, and I saw a WAC unit. Women's Army Corp. I thought, "I wonder what they are doing here?" It was kind of new at that time. So, I asked the WAC commander, "What work are your people doing?
She said, "They're not doing a thing! Nobody wants them. Nobody wants women at this base."
I said, "How many have you got?"
She said, "200".
I said, "I need them all! Let's get to work!"
Well, you know, I could have been elected Prom King with those women! It was hard work, but also great fun. The General was happy. He had his mail on his desk every day.
My reward for a successful job in Utah was being sent to Oakland to be in charge of the Christmas military mail program to service people in the Pacific. It was the biggest deal in the West Coast. Doing things like that...Well, coming to Los Altos was a piece of cake!
Walter Chronert was interviewed by Anne Lee, in February, 1998. For information about the Los Altos Oral History Program, call 650-948-9427, or e-mail "LAVoices@aol.com"
- Adapted by Donna Shoemaker of History House, Los Altos.