this turned out to be a great placement
for him. He did a fantastic job and
earned himself a couple of bronze and
silver metals.
Out in the jungle, morning troop
count papers from various outposts were
not totally accurate. There were only
supposed to be so many of each rank in
the units. Soldiers couldn’t be promoted
because the records showed that
positions were filled, even though they
actually were not filled. Jim’s task was
to work backwards with the records to
determine what the true numbers were
present in South Vietnam.
At that time, if a soldier had less than
five months left when he came home
from a combat zone, he was discharged
as soon as came home. He didn’t have to
serve the rest of his commission. Jim
was asked to stay for an extra two
months because the project was not
finished yet. So he took his chances. He
was discharged from the Army in
February of 1969. Jim was awarded the
National Defense Service Medal, Bronze
Star Medal, and the Army Commen-
dation Medal with Two Oak Leaf
Clusters. Jim and Diane were then
married in Redwood City on May 23,
1971.
When he arrived home from Vietnam,
his best friend had given up on u-control
planes was taking on radio controlled
airplanes. Jim began flying RC planes as
well. There is still a u-control Junior
Flight Streak hanging in the garage that
Diane used to fly that has twice crossed
the country during job relocation moves.
It was always a team effort in Jim’s
house!
In 1969, Jim was hired by IBM and
went to work in Daly City, California in
the mailroom sorting and distributing
mail. A job was a job and he had every
intention of working his way up. He was
promoted to cash application, which he
had never done before. He made his
mark again and ended up being the most
accurate processor.
Personal Computer’s were just
becoming popular at this time. Being the
detailed person that he was, he was again
promoted to help head up writing the
manual for IBM’s national personnel to
explain how the programming worked.
This new position required relocating to
New Jersey in May of 1974.
PROPWASH
6
October 2016
In Memory of ...
By Diane Wilson
Editors Note: The following was written by Jim’s wife Diane Wilson and read by long
time friend and NAMBA Hall of Fame member Jerry Dunlap at Jim Wilson’s service.
Pictures courtesy of Rick Kirbitz.
Jim was born in Spokane,
Washington on July 15, 1946 to
Emeilia and Tulla Wilson. He was
the second of three sons. His dad
was a Mess Sergeant in the Air
Force so the family mover around
quite a bit. Both his dad and mom
were good cooks and a lot of it
rubbed off. He was a typical child
and his mom used to tell him he
was incorrigible. He worked at an
early age bagging groceries for
tips at the commissary and
mowing the neighbors’ lawns. His
older brother joined the civil air
patrol and some of the classes
were to build a free flight glider.
Jim got involved helping and then
they both went into flying
u-control model airplanes. His dad
retired for the Air Force in 1962
while living in Greenville, Mississippi. The family moved to Redwood City where
Jim’s mother’s sister and husband were living.
Jim and Diane met in 1962 while both were still in high school. They both worked
at a local family owned small department store. Diane worked in the music department
and Jim in the back in the hobby shop (where else?). His first customer was our own
Jay Selby and they have been friends ever sense. Jay still calls him the “mean little
kid.” Jay was also Diane’s choral director in high school.
Jim graduated from Sequoia High School in Redwood City in 1965 and then went
to College of San Mateo for a year. He was paying his own way through college and
took a year off to work full time to make enough money to attend Northrop Institute of
Technology, an aeronautics school in Los Angeles.
Jim and Diane started dating in July of 1965 and then he left for Northrop in
September. It was a long distance relationship. He drove up and down Highway 99
every third weekend. Diane was working Saturdays so they had to make every minute
count. A lot of that time was spent at the flying field where Diane learned to fly
u-control airplanes. (I find that an interesting way to “make every second count.”)
Vietnam was in full swing at that time and in order not to get drafted, a person had to
be in school full time without any breaks. Uncle Sam found his favorite nephew in
April of 1967. Smooth talker that Jim was, he talked Uncle Sam into at least allowing
him to finish that school year.
He spent his Basic Training at Fort Huachuca in Arizona. The ground was so hot in
mid-June that the new recruits had to wear gloves when they did their exercises.
While learning how to shoot an M-16 rifle, he asked Diane to send him something he
could pad his shoulder with to cushion the recoil action. Can you guess what Diane
sent to absorb the butt of the rifle hitting Jim’s shoulder? Jim’s advanced training was
spent at Fort Bliss in Texas.
Jim and Diane became engaged in November of 1967 when Jim came home on
leave, with orders that he was to report to Oakland Army Base and then be sent to
Vietnam. An even longer long distance relationship was about to begin.
Apparently the Army tests their draftees to determine a person’s IQ. Jim was above
average and was given a clerk’s job. For a person as detailed oriented as Jim was,
