Captain Wilkerson was the pilot of a B-26B Invader bomber with the 8th Bomber Squadron, 3rd Bomber Group. Contact with the aircraft was lost on 8 January 1951. He was listed as Missing in Action and was presumed dead on 31 December 1953. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Wilkerson was awarded the Air Medal, the Purple Heart, 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.