Wilson, Dale, MAJ

Armor (Officer)

Photo In Uniform

Service Details

Current Service Status
USA Retired

Current/Last Rank
Major

Current/Last Service Branch
Armor

Current/Last Primary MOS
12B-Armor

Current/Last MOS Group
Armor (Officer)

Primary Unit
1990-1991, 12B, United States Military Academy West Point (Staff)/History Department

Previously Held MOS
11B10-Infantryman
71Q-Journalist
71L10-Administrative Specialist
71R10-Broadcast Journalist
11B30-Infantry Squad/Section Leader
12C-Cavalry Officer
46A-Public Affairs

Service Years
1969 - 1991

Official/Unofficial US Army Certificates

Cold War Certificate

Voice Edition

Voices Profile

Official Badges

Unofficial Badges

Military Association Memberships

Post 3830, LCpl Hayward Kimo Hamili Peleiholani Post

Military Officers Association of America (MOAA)


	1980, US Armor Association
	1992, Disabled American Veterans (DAV), Chapter 9 (Executive Director) (Hilo, Hawaii) [Verified] - Chap. Page
	1992, Military Order of the Purple Heart, Chapter 731 (Recorder) (Hilo, Hawaii) [Verified]1 - Chap. Page
	1994, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States (VFW), Post 3830, LCpl Hayward Kimo Hamili Peleiholani Post (National President) (Pahoa, Hawaii) [Verified] - Chap. Page
	1996, FSB Hill 4-11 Association
	1998, Americal Division Veterans Association
	2000, Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) [Verified] - Assoc. Page
	2001, Officers' Christian Fellowship
	2004, Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) [Verified] - Assoc. Page
	2006, Combat Infantrymen's Association, A Co, 1St BN, 1St Regt (Life Member) (Hilo, Hawaii) [Verified]
	2011, Army Together We Served [Verified]
	2013, OCS Foundation
	2018, TWS Profile Integrity

Additional Information

What are you doing now:
Aside from a three-and-one-half year stint as Tactical Officer of C Co. and Field Music at Valley Forge Military Academy & College in Wayne, PA, I worked in the publishing industry after retiring from the Army in September 1991. I started out as Executive Editor of Presidio Press, a San Francisco Bay Area book publisher specializing in military history and military affairs. After leaving VFMA&C in the summer of 1998, I became my own boss--using contacts I'd made with Presidio to line up freelance copy-editing projects for several commercial and scholarly book publishers. I finally had to give up work entirely in 2004, however, when my body began letting me down. Fortunately, all of my disabling conditions are either directly or indirectly service-connected--making me eligible for a wide range of VA benefits--without which I'd be up the proverbial estuary without a manipulator!

Other Comments:
For the last 19 years I've been living on the Big Island of Hawaii with my wife, Carol, in a subdivision about a mile outside of Mountain View--almost exactly halfway between Hilo and Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. However, I'm moving to Idaho in May 2019 and will be settling in the Sagle area not far from the Pend Oreille River. Between the Blue State politics, earthquakes and eruptions, I decided it was time to bid Hawaii Aloha and head for cooler climes!

Remembrance Profiles - 3 Soldiers Remembered

Busick, Larry Russell, PFC, (1970-1970)	Hamburger, Kenneth, COL
Wilson, Donald E., Sr., T/3, (1941-1944)

Photo Album (More...)

High-Water Mark of t...	High-Water Mark of t...	High-Water Mark of t...	Pickett's Charge
Pickett's Charge	Homeward Bound	. . . Right in the A...	Pow! . . .
Beaten at Drum	Beaten at Drum	Muckin' Around at Ft...	Muckin' Around at Ft...
On the Firing Line	A Short Swim	Chilling Out	Standing Tall
The Stud Board	. . . On the Way!	Getting Ready to Rol...	Tenting Tonight
Tank Gunnery at Rodr...	Lacing Up for a Long...	Vietnam in South Car...	Up Close
Potpourri	Potpourri	Quite a Handful	Potpourri
On the Air	Passing the Guidon	Talking It Up	Good-bye and Good Lu...
Into the Sunset	Stuck in the Mud	Movement to Contact	Calling the Shots
GI with Water Moccas...	Cool Dude	Fit to Fight	Another Not-So-Subtl...

Vietnam War/Counteroffensive Phase VII Campaign (1970-71)/Operation Lam Son 719
Start Year 1971	End Year 1971
Description Operation Lam Son 719 (Vietnamese: Chiến dịch Lam Sơn 719 or Chiến dịch đường 9 – Nam Lào) was a limited-objective offensive campaign conducted in southeastern portion of the Kingdom of Laos by the armed forces of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) between 8 February and 25 March 1971, during the Vietnam War. The United States provided logistical, aerial, and artillery support to the operation, but its ground forces were prohibited by law from entering Laotian territory. The objective of the campaign was the disruption of a possible future offensive by the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), whose logistical system within Laos was known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail (the Truong Son Road to North Vietnam). By launching such a spoiling attack against PAVN's long-established logistical system, the American and South Vietnamese high commands hoped to resolve several pressing issues. A quick victory in Laos would bolster the morale and confidence of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), which was already high in the wake of the successful Cambodian Campaign of 1970. It would also serve as proof positive that South Vietnamese forces could defend their nation in the face of the continuing withdrawal of U.S. ground combat forces from the theater. The operation would be, therefore, a test of that policy and ARVN's capability to operate effectively by itself. Because of the South Vietnamese need for security which precluded thorough planning, an inability by the political and military leaders of the U.S. and South Vietnam to face military realities, and poor execution, Operation Lam Son 719 collapsed when faced by the determined resistance of a skillful foe. The campaign was a disaster for the ARVN, decimating some of its best units and destroying the confidence that had been built up over the previous three years.