Veterans' Memorial Project

Robert A. Wilson

World War II

Graduation Year: '47 BS, '48 MS

Service Branch: Marines

Rank: Captain

Date of Death: 05/17/1953

Affiliations: Varsity football; Tribe of Illini; Varsity wrestler

Captain Wilson served as a Marine Air Corps pilot, on leave as football coach at Mattoon, Illinois. On May 17, 1953, Captain Wilson died at Camp LeJeune, North Carolina, from injuries incurred when his parachute opened partially in an emergency jump on April 12 from a Marine torpedo bomber near Siler City, North Carolina. The plane was returning from Glenview, Illinois, Naval Air Station to Cherry Point, North Carolinia, after a weekend trip during which Captain Wilson visited his parents in Urbana, Illinois. An all-state high school athlete and University Varsity football player and wrestler, Captain Wilson left the University to enlist in the military, serving three years on active duty during WWII. He then returned to the University to earn his degrees, and re-entered the military, having again been on active duty since June, 1952. On the day of Captain Wilson’s death, his wife gave birth to a son.

-information taken from University records and Illinois Alumni News, July, 1953, Page 14

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University of Illinois Alumni Association
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