Private Walter Burkett was born in Georgia on August 5, 1892 or 1894. He quit school at the age of eleven years old in the fifth grade. His mother was Mattiel Carswell and wife, Margaret Burkett. Private Burkett enlisted in the U.S. Army in February 1915. Private Burkett was originally sentenced to Life Imprisonment at Hard Labor. His sentence was reduced to twenty-eight years, six months. He was released on parole and in 1934 his sentence was remitted.

Private Burkett died in February, 1970.