Seaman First Class (S1c) Walter Payton, service number 2874184, entered the service from Louisville, Kentucky, on 9 July 1940.1 He was serving aboard the destroyer USS Pillsbury (DD-227) in Manila Bay in the Philippines at the time of U.S. entry into World War II. Seaman First Class Payton is believed to have died during the 10 December 1941 Japanese attack on the Cavite Navy Yard. His remains were not recovered. He was awarded the Purple Heart for his service, and is today memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines.  Details of S1c Payton’s loss are recorded in documents related to USS Pillsbury and the attack on the Cavite Navy Yard.
https://www.abmc.gov/decedent-search/payton%3Dwalter-0