LEONARD WOOD CLINIC NAMED AFTER CAPE MEDIC

The name of Richard G. Wilson will become more familiar to Fort Leonard Wood soldiers next year.

A new, consolidated, troop medical clinic will be named in honor of the late Army medic from Cape Girardeau, who was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously in 1951.

Wilson is the only Cape Girardeau resident to receive the highest military honor awarded by the United States.

Wilson joined the Army at 17 in 1948, and served as a medic. He was killed at the age of 19 on Oct. 21, 1950, near Opari, Korea, while administering aid to his wounded comrades caught in an ambush. After his unit withdrew, he returned for an injured comrade in the face of enemy fire.

Wilson moved to Cape Girardeau with his family at the age of 7 from Marion, Ill. His mother, Grace Wilson, and his brother, Ron Wilson, are both Cape Girardeau residents.

The additional honor for her fallen son means a lot to his mother, now 85. She said it seems the sacrifices made by the fallen soldiers and their families are not often understood by many Americans.

The 21,699-square-foot health-care facility, costing approximately $3.3 million, is expected to be open by April 1. The Wilson family members plan to attend the memorialization ceremony in late February or early March.

The clinic at the corner of 16th and Alabama streets at Fort Leonard Wood will provide health care to soldiers in basic and advanced individual training as well as those permanently on base at the Army Engineer Training Center.

The clinic will have a full-service pharmacy, X-ray and lab capability and offer physical therapy services and physical exams. In addition to a medical doctor or physician assistant, the clinic will have a part-time podiatrist and ophthalmologist.

The modern facility will shorten soldiers' time away from training, said M. Elizabeth Leuschen, Fort Leonard Wood's adjutant. It will be the first stop for soldiers on sick call.

Wilson met several of the criteria used for the selection of a name for the new facility, Leuschen said. Wilson was a young enlisted man from the Midwest, a medic and someone who had interacted with the engineer units from Fort Leonard Wood.

Wilson said several other buildings already are named for her son: the Army Reserve Center at Marion; a theater at Fort Campbell, Ky.; a school for Army personnel dependents at Fort Benning, Ga.; and a medical training center at Fort Sam Houston near San Antonio, Texas.

One of Wilson's prize possessions is a 1967 book titled "MEDIC" by Eloise Engle. The first chapter, called "An Aidman in Korea," is about her son, a member of a medical company attached to the 187th Airborne Infantry Regiment.

The chapter describes Wilson's role as a medic, his participation in the airborne school at Fort Benning and his medical training at Fort Sam Houston. It also details his "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty" as he died trying to save a fellow soldier.

Wilson's actions will be detailed on a memorial plaque with his photograph attached to the new Fort Leonard Wood clinic. The plaque will say: "Private Wilson's superb personal bravery, consummate courage and willing self-sacrifice for his comrades reflect untold glory upon himself and uphold the esteemed traditions of the military service."