S1C Clyde Richard Wilson (WWII)

S1C Clyde Richard Wilson was born October 31, 1918 in Fairview, WV to James and Charlie and Dollie (Tennant) Wilson. Clyde enlisted on July 12, 1938. On December 27, 1939, he married fellow West Virginian Edna Marie Cropp in Los Angeles, California. In 1940, they welcomed their only child together, a daughter. According to the book of WWII Navy Casualties, at the time of his death, their family was residing at 322 S 2nd Street, Clarksburg. The picture at right is of Edna and Clyde in 1940 while she was pregnant with their only child, Barbara Kay Wilson.

During the attack on Pearl Harbor, Clyde was serving as a Sailor 1st Class on the U.S.S. West Virginia. The U.S.S. West Virginia was hit by seven type 91 torpedoes and two bombs. Her crew was able to avoid capsizing, but caught on fire due to blazing fuel oil from the U.S.S. Arizona. Clyde was one of 106 casualties from the U.S.S. West Virginia, one of at least 3 West Virginians on board.

The U.S.S. California was later repaired and put back into service.

S1C Wilson was awarded a purple heart posthumously and is buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii.

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