Story of how PFC Robert L Wilson received his Medal of Honor Marker after 50 Years
Gateway Marines Honor Fallen Heroes
By SSgt Angela McDaniel
PANCO, RS St. Louis
The Mayor of Centralia, a stately elder gentleman in his seventies, was determined to wake up the small city in southern Illinois and put them on the map. His plan was to give the citizens something to boast about and a foundation of recognition and pride for generations to come.
Mayor Melvin Hart, a native of Centralia, which is a city of about 14,300 located in the farming heartland of Illinois, decided to create a Hall of Fame in the center of the small municipality. This Hall was not to be as normal as Hall of Fames go, those inducted didn¡¦t have to be universally famous or a hero on the national level. Rather, the Hall of Fame is a place that will recognize local residents of yesteryear and present; residents who have gone through life and made a mark of some importance. But yes, some inductees are true heroes.
During his research, Mayor Hart discovered that two former townsmen had been recognized by this nation for their extraordinary heroic actions during one of this nation¡¦s fiercest wars, World War II. Both were Marines who served in the Pacific Islands. Both died in battle, sacrificing themselves for their fellow Marines and both subsequently were awarded this country¡¦s highest decoration for valor ¡V the Medal of Honor.
Having retrieved copies of their citations, the mayor personally pursued the whereabouts of the families of the two Marines and gathered as much information as he could find. He in fact found the family of Pfc. Robert Lee Wilson still living in Centralia.
These two Marines, Private First Class Robert Lee Wilson and Gunnery Sergeant Robert Howard McCard, gave their lives on the Pacific Islands of Tinian and Saipan respectively.
Though not a born citizen of Centralia, but of Syracuse, NY, GySgt. McCard had been stationed in Centralia as a recruiter for the Marine Corps. He enlisted PFC Wilson into the Marine Corps in September 1941.
As a local newspaper reported, "McCard was later sent to the Pacific Islands for frontline duty. On June 16, 1944, on Saipan, he held off Japanese mortar fire by hurling hand grenades at the mortar crew, allowing four other Marines time to escape from a damaged tank. He dismounted a machine gun from the tank and according to high Marine officers, he killed 16 Japanese solders before he was killed by counter fire."
Gunnery Sergeant McCard is buried in the "Punch Bowl" in Hawaii.
Less than two months later, on Aug. 3, 1944, the 23-year-old Wilson was serving on Tinian in the Marines when a grenade landed in his fighting hole, occupied by him and a few other Marines. He threw his body over the missile, taking full impact and saved the lives of his comrades. Wilson was originally buried on Tinian and later re-interred at Hillcrest Cemetery in Centralia.
Mayor Hart, continuing his research for the ceremony, visited Wilson¡¦s grave in September 1992, and discovered that Pfc. Wilson¡¦s grave marker failed to reflect that he had been awarded the Medal of Honor. The Mayor immediately focused his energies toward making amends for this oversight of nearly 50 years. He was determined to have a new grave marker before the Oct. 17, 1992 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. The mayor¡¦s efforts were successful.
Less than one month later, in a small ceremony, attended by relatives of Pfc. Wilson, local residents, community representatives, Veterans of Foreign Wars and Marines of Recruiting Station St. Louis, the two Marines were inducted into Centralia¡¦s Hall of Fame.
The assemblage then gathered a few miles away to attend a special funeral service with full honors to Pfc. Wilson.
On a beautiful Fall day, under a temporary pavilion set up at Hillcrest Cemetery, Eva Shook, Pfc.Wilson¡¦s sister, and several close relatives sat in distinguished silence as a small crowd listened to remarks by Mayor Hart, members of the Vietnam Veteran¡¦s Chapter 176 and prayer from Rev. Joseph Alfred.
On cue, two Marines clad in full dress blue uniforms, flanking the pavilion, stepped forward and somberly saluted Pfc. Wilson¡¦s grave. They eased the marker of five decades from the young Marine¡¦s grave and placed it behind the pavilion. As they returned, they carried the new marker bearing the words "Medal of Honor" and gently placed it on Pfc. Wilson¡¦s grave. The silence of the ceremony was broken by a 21 gun salute and the echoing of Taps.
As quietly as the small crowd gathered, they departed from the Hillcrest Cemetery, knowing that one of their own from Centralia, Illinois was finally recognized for eternity as an American hero.
This article appeared in the Magazine called, Midwest Recruiter, a journal of the Ninth Marine Corps District, Vol. 44, No. 2 November 1992.
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