A Listener's Story About a Humble Local Hero -- Her Uncle

On this episode of Our American Stories, Joy Neal Kidney shares her uncle, Donald Wilson's, war story.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:10):
This is Lee Habib and this is our American Stories,
and we tell stories about everything here on this show,
including your story. Send them to our American Stories dot com.
There's some of our favorites. And today we have one
of our regular contributors, joy neil Kidney, and she's about
to share her uncle's story. This piece is titled Donald Wilson,

(00:33):
The Humble Hero.

Speaker 2 (00:35):
Most of the heroes among us are just ordinary people
like my uncle Don. I knew him as Mom's brother
who lived way out in Washington State and who liked fishing.
When I was a kid growing up on an Iowa farm,
the best part of getting a fat letter from Aunt
Rose was a picture of Uncle Don with a big salmon.

(00:59):
Mom's older had been a commercial fisherman. Even when he
later took a job with the Washington Department of Transportation,
he still headed out with his boat on willop A
Bay every chance he got, so every fishing season we
get snapshots of him with a huge fish hanging from
one hand and a fishing pole in the other, dressed

(01:21):
in faded jeans and a plaid shirt, usually a vest
with lots of pockets, sometimes a US Navy cap. Either
the USS Hancock or the Yorktown. Although Mom rarely mentioned
the war World War two, she told us that her
brother Don, who grew up in the small town of Dexter, Iowa,

(01:44):
had been a sailor on the famous Yorktown, the one
lost during a big battle in the Pacific Ocean, and
that he had had to tread water for an hour
before being rescued. Every few years Uncle Don and at
Rose would drive back to Iowa to visit. I was
unaware of all the other combat he'd survived, all the

(02:06):
heartache he'd been through, all the complexity of this seemingly
ordinary man. As teenagers, Cis, Gloria and I traveled by
train with Grandma to the West Coast to visit relatives,
including Don and Rose. In nineteen sixty two. They lived
in a little house out along the Nacell River. As

(02:28):
soon as they learned we were coming, Uncle Don added
a room to their home, an indoor bathroom. Since Aunt
Rose didn't drive, they had only a pick up. One
foggy day, we joined a crowd of clam diggers and
carried our limit home to try freed clams and to
make clam chowder. Digging them was more fun than eating

(02:52):
them for farm girls used to Iowa beef and pork.
Years later, I learned that not only had Uncle Ben
on the historic Yorktown during the Battle of Midway, but
that he'd had to abandon ship twice. He spent an
hour in the oily Pacific after Japanese bombs had crippled

(03:12):
the ship. The next day, the aircraft carrier was listing
dead in the water but still afloat. A few dozen
men reboarded the battered ship for a salvage attempt. One
of them was twenty five year old Donald Wilson. After
doing repairs all morning on a lower level of the ship,

(03:35):
he clambered up to the deck for something to eat,
and alarm blared. Dawn jumped up and saw torpedos in
the water speeding right at his ship. One slammed into them.
He ran to the fantail and leaped a second time.
A nearby ship rescued him and other survivors. The next morning,

(03:59):
sailed asleep on the deck were nudged awake as the
carrier began to sink, her battle flags still flying. Many
of them wept as they stood at attention to witness
their ship roll over and plunge into the ocean. Donald
Wilson first joined the Navy with his older brother in

(04:20):
nineteen thirty four, during the Great Depression, where there were
no jobs for teenagers, not even for their father. Don
stayed in the Navy and in nineteen thirty seven became
a plank owner on the brand New Yorktown, meaning he
was a member of the crew when it was placed

(04:42):
in commission. I served on her her whole life. Don
later wrote of the ship. He later received a citation
signed by Admiral Chester Nimitz for being part of that
savage attempt. I'd written to uncle and Aunt Rose for decades,

(05:02):
but after Grandma died and getting to read the family's
war letters, I started a correspondence with Uncle Jahn that
lasted the rest of his life. I wanted to make
sure he had all the medals he was entitled to.
He said it in wantiny that he was no hero
and wasn't interested in medals, that is until I learned

(05:26):
there was one for that citation. When he finally received it,
he proudly framed all of his medals and ribbons. Uncle
Don was also a plank owner on the USS Hancock,
another aircraft carrier, the Hancock, was in combat in nearly

(05:48):
every major naval battle during those last desperate months of
the Pacific War, except when out of action for repairs
after being attacked by a comical All five Wilson brothers
of Dallas County, Iowa served in World War Two. The
three youngest, Dale, Danny, and Junior lost their lives, two

(06:12):
of them in combat. Their surviving family members never got
over the blows of losing these three young pilots, including
their older brother Don, still in the Navy after the war,
he decided he didn't want to make it a career.
After all. He was ready for some peace and quiet

(06:33):
and a fishing pole. No one would suspect that the
ordinary man in the snapshots with the big Fish was
indeed a hero, one with a poignant.

Speaker 1 (06:44):
History and a special thanks to joy Neil Kidney for
sharing that story. And again, if you have stories about
heroes who fought for and defended and served this great country,
send the story to American stories dot com. We'd love
to hear from you, and they are our favorites. The

(07:07):
story of Uncle Don here on our American Stories.

Speaker 2 (07:31):
Folks.

Speaker 1 (07:31):
If you love the stories we tell about this great country,
and especially the stories of America's rich past. Know that
all of our stories about American history, from war to innovation, culture,
and faith, are brought to us by the great folks
at Hillsdale College, a place where students study all the
things that are beautiful in life and all the things
that are good in life. And if you can't cut
to Hillsdale, Hillsdale will come to you with their free

(07:54):
and terrific online courses. Go to Hillsdale dot edu to
learn more.