Hal K. Wilson, III

Hal Wilson enlisted in the U.S. Army on January 22, 1959, and after completing basic training and radio operator school at Fort Dix, New Jersey, he served with the 97th Engineer Battalion in Verdun, France, from August 1959 until he returned to the U.S. and left active duty on January 12, 1961, remaining in the Army Reserve until his honorable discharge on December 31, 1964. During this time, Hal completed his bachelor's degree in Aeronautics at St. Louis University, and then worked as an aircraft maintenance engineer on F-4 Phantom II fighters with McDonnell Aircraft Corporation before entering Officer Training School with the U.S. Air Force on May 23, 1965. He was commissioned a second lieutenant on August 13, 1965, and then completed Undergraduate Pilot Training at Laredo AFB, Texas, in August 1966. After completing B-52 Stratofortress Combat Crew Training, Lieutenant Wilson served as a B-52 pilot with the 337th Bomb Squadron at Dyess AFB, Texas, from January 1967 to December 1969, during which time he deployed to Southeast Asia and participated in Arc Light bombing missions over Vietnam. His next assignment was as a B-52 pilot with the 348th Bomb Squadron at Westover AFB, Massachusetts, from January 1970 until he was forced to eject over North Vietnam while on his 4th tour to Southeast Asia and was taken as a Prisoner of War on December 19, 1972.