National Historian
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Dale
Wilson was born and raised in Pasadena, Calif., but spent his high school years in Reno, Nev.
He enlisted in the Army in late 1969 as an infantry and Vietnam
volunteer. He arrived in Vietnam
just in time to catch the final months of the NVA’s summer offensive in southern
I Corps, where he served as a grenadier and later a rifleman in C Co., 1st Bn.,
3d Inf., 11th Light Inf. Bde., in the Americal Division. He was lightly wounded
on 3 Sept. 1970 and spent three weeks recuperating in Cam Ranh Bay before returning
to his unit. In early November, he suffered a bad ankle sprain while trying to negotiate
a narrow trail in the highlands east of Quang Ngai and subsequently became a combat
photographer and correspondent. Patriot
Wilson spent the next 15 years in a variety of assignments in the infantry, public
affairs, armored cavalry and tanks before being selected to teach military history
at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. Along the
 way, he was able to complete
his BA in business and journalism, OCS, and MA and Ph.D. degrees in history before
retiring in the fall of 1991. He is the author of Treat
‘Em Rough!: The Birth of American Armor, 1917–20 (Novato, Calif.: Presidio, 1989),
and an award-winning essay on the impact of segregation on African Americans in
the military—“Recipe for Failure: Major General Edward M. Almond and the Preparation
of the U.S. 92d Infantry Division for Combat in World War II”—which appeared in
the July 1992 issue of the Journal of Military History, plus numerous other articles,
essays, and book reviews for popular and scholarly publications. Since joining the
Order in 1992, Patriot Wilson has served as a chapter commander and adjutant, department
junior and senior vice commander and certified service officer, Region VI commander,
and national historian. He is also a life member of the DAV, VFW, Combat Infantrymen’s
Association, Vietnam Veterans Association, Military Officers of America Association,
Americal Division Veterans Association and Hill 4-11 Association. In addition to
the
Purple Heart, Patriot Wilson has been awarded the Bronze Star, four Meritorious Service Medals, the Joint Service Commendation Medal, five Army Commendation Medals,
the Army Achievement
Medal and three awards of the Good Conduct Medal, as well as
numerous service and campaign medals and ribbons.
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