Some of the band members were afraid of V.C. Walker. He was a very strong personality who controlled the concert marching band like a general. When Walt Disney hired him Walt said, "If you take this job it will be yours for as long as you want it. You will have full authority and responsibility to make sure they play marching band music, dress properly, not wear beards or mustaches, keep their hair neatly trimmed short, act well behaved, and use no profanity. That should make you proud of them. You will hire and fire the musicians. I will leave it all up to you, and the job is yours from now on."
The band of musicians felt that V.C. acted stern and demanded perfect attention from everyone. He had white hair. I met him in his seventies. When he was well he dressed in white, stood tall and marched down Main Street leading the band. The musicians wore bright red and blue uniforms. They performed under a large brightly colored red, white, and blue tent covering a bandstand and a circular dance floor with white folding chairs and round tables for the audience.
Sometimes my brother Ron sang with his barbershop quartet while the band caught it's breath. Ron showed respect for V.C. who always introduced the quartet as Ron Browne's Dapper Dans. "You are the leader of the quartet and should get full credit, " he’d tell Ron. The three other singers did not enjoy having Ron introduced as the leader, but they took it in stride knowing the older man always got his way.
Suddenly V.C. was struck down by a disease known as Gillian Baret Syndrome with symptoms similar to polio. After the acute phase and hospitalization, he was sent home unable to walk. His doctor ordered him to have physical therapy at the Society for Crippled Children in Orange, California. I was selected to treat him. V.C. hired Ron to lift him into the car and drive him to the therapy pool, put him into a wheelchair and wheel inside to change into a bathing suit.
I treated V.C. in the water. He yelled at me to be careful not to get it in his ears. "I make my living with my ears. I must be able to hear all the instruments in my band. If you get water in my ears it may cause an infection. BE CAREFUL!" After that, I decided to treat V.C. Walker on a dry table and on mats because I felt he needed gravity which was being eliminated in the pool.
My brother Ron helped me lift V.C. from the wheelchair to the mats on the floor. I used new techniques I learned in books written by Bobath in England. Positioning him face down I asked him to get up on his elbows. He struggled to do so with his weak muscles. Using his belt I lifted his body and pushed his knees in position for crawling. V.C. complained loudly. He said he was not going to crawl for me or anyone else. Ron was shocked at my reply. I said sternly, "Before a baby can walk he has to learn how to crawl. So does a CRIPPLE."
V.C. never complained to me again and he worked very hard. His goal was to march down Main Street at Disneyland leading the band. Many months later he sent me passes to Disneyland for my family with a note to come watch his concert. He had reached his goal and was as tough as ever. Those who knew him were inspired. V.C. Walker was a man who wouldn't give in to adversity.
In later years his son Tommy Walker became well known as a producer and director of big extravaganzas at Disneyland and Disneyworld, Anaheim Stadium, and other large show places.