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Contact Info
Home Town Sikeston
Last Address Fort Huachuca, AZ
Date of Passing Jan 17, 1986
Location of Interment Fort Huachuca Post Cemetery (VLM) - Sierra Vista, Arizona
"Lam Nut Bau troi, Rung chuyen Trai Dat" (Crack the Sky, Shake the Earth)
~ Signal to communist forces telling them to commence the greatest battle in the history of Vietnam. The Tet '68 offensive was countrywide and well coordinated, with more than 80,000 communist troops striking more than 100 towns and cities. The Saigon region was among those areas hit.
During Tet '68, the 25th Infantry Division was engaged in fierce battles around Saigon and Ton Son Nhut airfield just outside the Capital. Moving quickly into the path of the Viet Cong Units poised for the attack, the 25th Infantry Division absorbed the full force of the enemy blows and then counter-attacked viciously to smash the enemy offensive. The Division Commander, Gen Mearns and his Chief of Staff, Col Wilson were in the thick of it. Both officers were in constant heliborne control over the the action as it unfolded.
Col Wilson was scheduled to DEROS on TET '68. He extended his tour for another two months to help with the battle. Many soldiers give thanks to the 25th Infantry Division for their actions those days.
Col Wilson was one of the chief architects for the "Rings of Steel" strategy (Hop Tac) used in Vietnam. As an Aide for Gen Harold K. Johnson and Professor at the CGSC, he helped shape and formalize the doctrine used in this approach. Col Wilson worked closely with Bernard Fall regarding the defensive and offensive strategy to be used in South Vietnam (see photo).
Other Comments:
Awards & Decorations:
He was also awarded the Russian Medal for Valor, Knight's Cross Medal 1st OLC, and the Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Palm Fourragere. There is currently no provision for this profile to display these awards.
Most profile information taken from: Parameters, Spring 1998, pp. 93-109 "To Change a War: General Harold K. Johnson and the PROVN Study", by Lewis Sorley. ...and Col Wilson's Official Personnel Records on file at the National Personnel Records Center, St Louis, MO. Including my direct knowledge of him - I was custodian of his OMPF and had the opportunity to see him fairly often while we were assigned to the 25th Infantry Division at Cu Chi, Vietnam.
WWII - European Theater of Operations/Ardennes Alsace Campaign (1944-45)/Battle of the Bulge
From Month/Year
December / 1944
To Month/Year
January / 1945
Description The Battle of the Bulge (16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945) was a major German offensive campaign launched through the densely forested Ardennes region of Wallonia in Belgium, France and Luxembourg on the Western Front toward the end of World War II in Europe. Hitler planned the offensive with the primary goal to recapture the important harbour of Antwerp. The surprise attack caught the Allied forces completely off guard. United States forces bore the brunt of the attack and incurred the highest casualties for any operation during the war. The battle also severely depleted Germany's war-making resources.
The battle was known by different names. The Germans referred to it as Unternehmen Wacht am Rhein ("Operation Watch on the Rhine"), while the French named it the Bataille des Ardennes ("Battle of the Ardennes"). The Allies called it the Ardennes Counteroffensive. The phrase "Battle of the Bulge" was coined by contemporary press to describe the way the Allied front line bulged inward on wartime news maps and became the best known name for the battle.
The German offensive was supported by several subordinate operations known as Unternehmen Bodenplatte, Greif, and Währung. As well as stopping Allied transport over the channel to the harbor of Antwerp, Germany also hoped these operations would split the British and American Allied line in half, and then proceed to encircle and destroy four Allied armies, forcing the Western Allies to negotiate a peace treaty in the Axis Powers' favor. Once that was accomplished, Hitler could fully concentrate on the eastern theatre of war.
The offensive was planned by the German forces with the utmost secrecy, minimizing radio traffic and moving troops and equipment under cover of darkness. Despite their efforts to keep it secret, the Third U.S. Army's intelligence staff predicted a major German offensive, and Ultra indicated that a "substantial and offensive" operation was expected or "in the wind", although a precise date or point of attack could not be given. Aircraft movement from the Russian Front and transport of forces by rail, both to the Ardennes, was noticed but not acted upon, according to a report later written by Peter Calvocoressi and F. L. Lucas at the codebreaking centre Bletchley Park.
Near-complete surprise was achieved by a combination of Allied overconfidence, preoccupation with Allied offensive plans, and poor aerial reconnaissance. The Germans attacked a weakly defended section of the Allied line, taking advantage of heavily overcast weather conditions, which grounded the Allies' overwhelmingly superior air forces. Fierce resistance on the northern shoulder of the offensive around Elsenborn Ridge and in the south around Bastogne blocked German access to key roads to the northwest and west that they counted on for success; columns that were supposed to advance along parallel routes found themselves on the same roads. This and terrain that favored the defenders threw the German advance behind schedule and allowed the Allies to reinforce the thinly placed troops. Improved weather conditions permitted air attacks on German forces and supply lines, which sealed the failure of the offensive. In the wake of the defeat, many experienced German units were left severely depleted of men and equipment, as survivors retreated to the defenses of the Siegfried Line.
About 610,000 American forces were involved in the battle,[2] and 89,000 were casualties, including 19,000 killed. It was the largest and bloodiest battle fought by the United States in World War II.
