Warrant Officer Wilson was a medical warrant officer with the 2nd Medical Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. He was seriously wounded by the enemy in South Korea on 7 January 1951 while tending his wounded comrades and died of those wounds on 15 January 1951.

Wilson was awarded the Purple Heart, the Combat Medical Badge, 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.