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Marshall Wilson's military service
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Item:
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Memoirs
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Subject:
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Marshall and
Billie (McDaniel)
Wilson's life during wartime
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Event:
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World War II
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Location:
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San Diego, California;
Los Angeles, California; Cheyenne, Wyoming;
Monmouth County, New Jersey;
Warner Robins AFB, Warner Robins,
Georgia; Sacramento,
Sacramento Co.,
California
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Date:
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Written 23, 24, and 29 November 1999 about events in 1941-1947
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Creator:
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Marshall and Billie (McDaniel) Wilson
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Donor:
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Elizabeth C. Feil
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Alterations:
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Edited and annotated by Elizabeth C. Feil (changes indicated by square brackets, [ ])
Some dates removed for privacy reasons, and some extraneous comments deleted
(removals indicated by ellipses, ...)
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Comments:
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Put together from several e-mails to Elizabeth C. Feil and then reviewed and approved for
web publication by Marshall and Billie Wilson
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Transcription:
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Billie: "When the government decided we needed more military training and war
seemed inevitable, Marshall volunteered into the selective service for one year
[of] training. He was sent for basic training to Camp
Callen near San Diego."
Marshall: "I entered the service on March 4, 1941, as a private. After 3 months basic
training [I] was assigned to Fort
Rosecrans, at San Diego, in the Coast Artillery."
Marshall: "Dec. 7th [1941, Pearl Harbor] changed every thing, and the 1 year ended up
at over 5 yrs. So I applied for and was accepted to the Signal Corps Officers
Candidate School at Fort Monmouth, N. J. Upon graduation
in July of 1942 I was
assigned to the faculty as an instructor at the Signal Corps Officers Candidate
School. In Oct. 1942 I sent for Billie to come to NJ and we were married Oct. 17,
1942, at Red Bank, NJ, in the
Episcopal church."
Marshall: "We were transferred many times to various posts as a commanding officer of
various Signal Corps units and to area Signal Headquarters. The last and longest
of these was to Warner Robins [Air Force Base], Georgia.
We were [t]here when [son]
Craig was born at
base hospital on Aug. 29.... Warner Robins was an Air Force Base so when the
Air Force became a separate service from the
Army I became an Air Force Officer.
When we were separated from the Service I accepted a reserve commission in the
Signal Corps. (When I retired from reserve duty as a Lt. Colonel I had a total of
active and reserve duty of 26 years.) On Dec. 24, 1945, we returned to California
after 5 years' absence. Our second child,
Marsha, was born Oct. 20 . . . in Sacramento."
Billie: "After Marshall was gone to serve his country and was stationed at Camp Callen,
he wanted me to quit the PG&E and move to L.A., where I had lived before, so
my mother [Verna (Cramer)
McDaniel] and I picked up and moved. Marshall was then in San Diego. I went to
work for the Shell Oil Co. I stayed with the Shell until Marshall was transferred to the
east coast and ... sent for me to be married back east.
"Again we moved, with my mother going to Cheyenne [Wyoming] (where she moved in
with her
brother and sister-in-law), and I ... to Red Bank, N.J., where Marshall had rented
a room with the dearest couple in the world, Vin and Marge Kielt. We were
married Oct. 17, 1942, in the Episcopal church in Red Bank, N.J. We had a
reception given to us by people we had not known. Had a honeymoon in NY
City-believe me, on two cents. We then met Geo. and Kay [Fox] Bachman,
[Marshall's brother-in-law] Matt [Bachman]'s
brother and sister-in-law and other members of the family. All were great to us.
We then had to return to Red Bank, N.J., and orders were eventually given to
several different places. Many wives of service men came from all over the
country. . . . Sad moments and good moments; a lot of detail, but of no avail.
Oh, yes, and war babies."
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