NFF Gold Medal Recipients
Biography
Louis H. Wilson was born in Brandon, Miss., and earned a B.A. in 1941 from Millsaps College while participating in football and track. Following his graduation, he enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve, and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant six months later. Lieutenant Wilson was deployed to the Pacific theater with the 9th Marines in February 1943, and was promoted to Captain two months later. During the assault on Guam in July 1944, Wilson earned the Medal of Honor for heroism in combat when he and his company repelled and destroyed a numerically superior enemy force. He was promoted to major in March 1945.
Wilson was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in November 1951 and to General in July 1975. As Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Wilson repeatedly stressed modernization of the post-Vietnam Marine Corps. He insisted on force readiness, responsiveness, and mobility by maintaining fast-moving, hard-hitting expeditionary units, each consisting of a single integrated system of modern ground- and air-delivered firepower, tactical mobility, and electronic countermeasures. General Wilson was the first Marine Corps Commandant to serve full-time on the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
General Wilson retired on June 30, 1979 and returned to his home in Mississippi. For exceptionally distinguished service during his four-year tenure as Commandant, and his contributions as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he received the Defense Distinguished Service Medal (First Oak Leaf Cluster), upon retirement. He died at his home in Birmingham, Ala., on June 21, 2005.
