Richard G. Wilson

He went back unarmed to aid a wounded soldier under gunfire.

Born in Marion, Illinois, on 19 August 1931, Richard Gene Wilson grew up in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. He left high school after his junior year and enlisted in the Army on his seventeenth birthday. After medical training at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, he volunteered for airborne training. He married shortly before deploying to Korea with the 187th Airborne Infantry Regiment in late summer 1950. On 20 October he took part in a combat parachute jump north of Pyongyang.

Richard G. Wilson earned a posthumous Medal of Honor near Opari, Korea, on 21 October 1950. A medical aidman attached to Company I, 187th Airborne Infantry Regiment, he treated casualties during an ambush and helped wounded men withdraw. After learning that a soldier believed dead was still moving, Wilson returned unarmed despite his comrades’ protests. A patrol later found him beside the man he had tried to save, shot repeatedly while shielding and treating him. His award recognizes extraordinary devotion to a wounded comrade.

His widow received the Medal of Honor at the Pentagon on 2 August 1951. Wilson was nineteen when he died. Military medical facilities and other buildings were later named in his memory.

Medal of Honor citation

Pfc. Wilson distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action. As medical aidman attached to Company I, he accompanied the unit during a reconnaissance-in-force through the hilly country near Opari. The main body of the company was passing through a narrow valley flanked on three sides by high hills when the enemy laid down a barrage of mortar, automatic-weapons, and small-arms fire. The company suffered a large number of casualties from the intense hostile fire while fighting its way out of the ambush. Pfc. Wilson proceeded at once to move among the wounded and administered aid to them oblivious of the danger to himself, constantly exposing himself to hostile fire. The company commander ordered a withdrawal as the enemy threatened to encircle and isolate the company. As his unit withdrew Pvt. Wilson assisted wounded men to safety and assured himself that none were left behind. After the company had pulled back he learned that a comrade previously thought dead had been seen to be moving and attempting to crawl to safety. Despite the protests of his comrades, unarmed and facing a merciless enemy, Pfc. Wilson returned to the dangerous position in search of his comrade. Two days later a patrol found him lying beside the man he returned to aid. He had been shot several times while trying to shield and administer to the wounded man. Pfc. Wilson's superb personal bravery, consummate courage, and willing self-sacrifice for his comrades reflect untold glory upon himself and uphold the esteemed traditions of the military service.