Cape residents still remember 1950 Medal of Honor recipient

Although the Korean War often is referred to as “the forgotten war,” Cape Girardeau continues to remember Pfc. Richard Wilson, a medic with the 187th Airborne Infantry Regiment awarded with the Congressional Medal of Honor after sacrificing his life Oct. 21, 1950, near Opari, Korea, while trying to save a fellow soldier.

Born in Marion, Illinois, one of seven children born to Alice and Bert Wilson, the family moved to a home on Elm Street in Cape Girardeau in 1939.

He was active in sports during his teenage years, a Golden Gloves boxer who also played right guard for the Central High School football team.

John ”Doc” Yallaly, former manager of the Cape Girardeau American Legion baseball team and a childhood friend of Richard Wilson, lived on South Hanover Street at the time, a few blocks from him.

“He was a real good guy — a strong dude,” Yallaly said. “He was a good man, and he would be the type of guy to do what he did.”

Wilson enlisted in the Army on his 17th birthday and completed basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky.

Richard Wilson’s sister, Jo Anne Wilson Duncan, still remembers one visit during a weekend leave in May 1949 where he and a friend returned to Cape Girardeau to provide help with tornado-relief efforts.

The Medal of Honor Citation to Richard Wilson states he was accompanying his unit during a reconnaissance through hilly country near Opari. While passing through a narrow valley, he and his company were ambushed with a barrage of mortar, automatic-weapons and small-arms fire.

As the company suffered a large number of casualties in the ambush, Wilson administered aid to the wounded despite exposing himself to danger.

As the unit withdrew from the ambush, members of the company realized one comrade believed to be dead may still have been moving.

Despite the protests of his comrades, Wilson re-entered the combat zone in search of the soldier. A patrol found him two days later, lying beside his comrade.

Jo Anne Wilson Duncan received word of her brother’s death 10 days after his passing, on Nov. 2 in the middle of a school day.

“When we found out, someone came to May Greene School and picked me up, along with my brother, and told us and took us home then. It was really hard,” she said.

The next year, the family was flown to a Washington, D.C., ceremony where Gen. Omar Bradley presented them with the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Duncan, now 80, said she still thinks about brother frequently.

“Different things will jog my memories [of Richard],” she said. “Especially on Memorial Day and Veterans Day.”

Elroy Kinder became close to the family during his teenage years after Richard’s death. To this day, he reminds younger generations of Wilson’s sacrifice.

“[Richard’s story is] an important thing that should be remembered,” Kinder said. “A story that needs to be told.”

bmatthews@semissourian.com

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