World War II Honoree

Richard Calvin Wilson

Branch of Service

U.S. Navy

Hometown

Grinnell, Iowa

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Fireman Second Class. He was inducted into the United States Navy May 19, 1943 at Des Moines, Iowa, with recruit training at the U.S. Naval Training Station Great Lakes, Illinois. Upon his graduation from boot camp and Fire Training, he was transferred to an unknown U.S. Navy sea-going ship for duty as a Fireman. Reported missing in action, lost at sea Tuesday, November 2, 1943 in the Pacific Theater of Operations. In remembrance of the brave, his name is permanently inscribed in the tablets of the missing, memorialized at the Honolulu National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific ‘Punchbowl’ Hawaii. This American Patriot was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously, for his ultimate sacrifice in defense of his country.