Second Lieutenant Wilkie was the pilot of a F-84G Thunderjet fighter with the 311th Fighter-Bomber Squadron, 58th Fighter-Bomber Group. On 24 May 1953, while on a training mission, as he made a strafing run, his aircraft crashed into the ground.

Wilkie was awarded the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.