Corporal Wilson was a member of Company K, 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was taken Prisoner of War while fighting the enemy in North Korea on 26 October 1952 and died while a prisoner on 13 December 1952. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Wilson was awarded the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Prisoner of War Medal, 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.