lest we forget

WILSON, WILMER DWAYNE

Rank / Branch:

  • HOSPITAL CORPMAN 3, U.S. NAVY

Date Of Birth:

  • 1948-04-15

Country Of Loss:

  • SOUTH VIETNAM

Status:

  • HOSTILE, DIED MISSING

Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:​

  • GROUND

Other:

  • NOT MARRIED

Unit:

  • THIRD MARINE DIVISION

Date Of Loss:

  • 1968-04-16

Loss Coordinates:

  • QUANG TRI

Catagory:

  • BODY RECOVERED

Awards & Decorations:

  • SEE BIO

VETERAN HAGI0GRAPHY

  • WILSON, WILMER DWAYNE, HOSPTIAL CORPMAN 3RD CLASS, U.S. NAVY, SWEETWATER, NOLAN, TEXAS

AWARDS AND DECORATIONS

  • COMBAT CORPMAN BADGE, PURPLE HEART, PURPLE HEART, NATIONAL DEFENSE SERVICE MEDAL, VIETNAM SERVICE MEDAL, VIETNAM MILITARY MERIT MEDAL, VIETNAM CROSS OF GALLANTRY WITH PALM, VIETNAM CAMPAIGN MEDAL

BIOGRAPHY

  • Wilmer Dwayne Wilson was born in Sweetwater, Texas to Wilmer Dayton and Margie Dean Sanders Wilson. He attended schools in Sweetwater and graduated from Sweetwater High School, Class of 1966. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy from high school. He completed Navy Recruit Training at the U.S. Navy Recruit Training Depot in San Diego, California and then completed Hospital Corpsman training.
  • He began his tour in Vietnam on December 15, 1967, and he was attached to the Headquarters and Service Company, 1st Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment. In April 1968, after the siege of the Khe Sanh Combat Base had been broken, General Westmoreland, Commanding General of MACV wanted more aggressive patrolling around the Khe Sanh area to protect those who remained. On April 16, 1968, the 1st Battalion, 9th Marines, was holding a defensive perimeter on Hill 869 near Khe Sanh. At sunup two platoons from Alpha Company, 1/9 set out on a patrol to the southeast of Hill 689. While moving up a ridgeline, the patrol engaged an NVA force dug in atop the ridge, an engagement which developed into a full-fledged battle that continued through the night and into the next day and night. At the conclusion of the battle, the Marines ejected the NVA from the ridge, they endured heavy losses-41 Marines and sailors were killed and 32 wounded. HN Wilson was one of three Corpsman to die in the battle and was killed in the combat on April 16, 1968, while rendering aid to a wounded marine. He had turned 20 years old the day before.
  • He was buried with full military honors in the Garden of Memories Cemetery in Sweetwater, Texas. He was survived by his parents, three sisters Bonnie, Mary and Linda and by three brothers, Gary, Buford and Lawrence all of the home of his parents in Sweetwater. His mother passed away in 1974 at age 45 from Breast Cancer and his father and his father passed away in 1994, both are buried in the same plot as Dwayne.
  • SWEETWATER HIGH SCHOOL, CLASS OF 1966
  • SWEETWATER NEWSPAPER PHOTO
  • GARDEN OF MEMORIES CEMETERY, SWEETWATER, TEXAS