Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart was born in 1918 to a family of farmers.  While in the eighth grade, Mr. Walton became the youngest Eagle Scout in Missouri's history (as an adult he received the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award from the Boy Scout's of America).

Growing up during the Great Depression, Mr. Walton had numerous jobs to help provide for his family.  One of those jobs was milking cows, bottling the surplus and driving the inventory to local customers.  Mr. Walton had an incredible work ethic.  After he was finished with delivering the milk to his customers, he had a paper route, delivering local newspapers door-to-door.

Mr. Walton attended the University of Missouri - Columbia with a major in economics.  While attending university, he waited on tables in exchange for meals.  A few days after graduating college, he joined JC Penny as a management trainee.  He resigned from J.C. Penny in 1942 to prepare for military service and World War II.  He met his wife Helen while working at DuPont munitions near Tulsa, OK, soon after.

In 1945, after the War was over, Mr. Walton, with the money that he had saved from his military service, and a loan, purchased a variety store in