Walter King Wilson, Jr. – Lieutenant General, United States Army

Courtesy of the United States Army

Lieutenant General Walter K. Wilson, Jr. 
Chief of Engineers,  May 19, 1961-June 30, 1965)

The son of an artillery officer, Walter Wilson, Jr., was born at Fort Barrancas, Florida, on August 26, 1906. He graduated from the Military Academy in 1929 and was commissioned in the Corps of  Engineers. Before 1942 he served with troops, continued his military and engineering education, and was an instructor at the Military Academy.

During World War II Wilson served as Deputy Engineer-in-Chief with the Southeast Asia Command at New Delhi, India, and Kandy, Ceylon.   He became Commanding General, Advance Section, U.S. Forces, India-Burma Theater, and Chief of Staff of the Chinese Army in India.   Later, he commanded Intermediate and Base Sections and consolidated all three, commanding all ground forces remaining in the theater.   He was District Engineer in St. Paul, Minnesota (1946-49), and Mobile, Alabama (1949-52), and then South Atlantic (1952-53) and Mediterranean Division Engineer (1953-55).   He assumed command of the 18th Engineer Brigade at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, in 1955.   He served as Deputy Chief of Engineers for Construction from 1956 to 1960.

Wilson was Commanding General of the Army Engineer Center and Fort Belvoir and Commandant of the Army Engineer School in 1960-61. He retired as Chief of Engineers on June 30, 1965.

Wilson’s military honors included the Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Soldier’s Medal, and membership in the French Legion of Honor. He died in Mobile, Alabama, on December 6, 1985 and was buried with full military honors in Section 2 of Arlington National Cemetery.  His father (Major General Walter King Wilson, United States Army) and mother (Evangeline Taylor Wilson), and wife (Jeanne Herman Wilson) are buried in the same plot.  The General’s son, Walter King Wilson III, Colonel, United States Army, died in April 2008, and is also buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Michael Robert Patterson

Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.

Reviewed by: Michael Howard