During a 30-year career, Marine Corps Chief Warrant Officer 4 Harold Edward Wilson saw action during three major wars. His leadership during the Korean conflict helped his beleaguered unit survive an onslaught by Chinese forces. That bravery under fire earned him the Medal of Honor.
Marine Corps Master Sgt. Harold E. Wilson, Medal of Honor recipient.
Wilson was born Dec. 5, 1921, in Birmingham, Alabama, to parents James and Leila Wilson. He had three brothers, William, Thomas and Walter, all of whom also eventually joined the Marine Corps.
Wilson earned the nickname “Speedy” as a grocery delivery boy. According to Marine Corps Col. James C. Carroll III, Wilson used a wagon when he first started the job, but he was pretty slow, so people called him “slow poke.” Wilson wasn’t fond of that moniker, so he saved up enough money to get a bike, which he used to speed around town delivering groceries. It earned him a new nickname that stuck with him for the rest of his life.
A few months after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Wilson enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve. The 20-year-old was assigned to active duty and spent more than two years stationed on Midway Island in the Pacific before being honorably discharged in the fall of 1945 when World War II was over.
Two years later, Wilson rejoined the Marine Corps Reserve. He was recalled to active duty in August 1950 when war broke out in Korea. His unit, the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines Regiment, 1st Marine Division, was sent to the peninsula in November 1950. Pretty quickly, they were involved in some of the war’s first campaigns, including the famed Battle of Chosin Reservoir, where Wilson was wounded in December 1950.
A few months later, Wilson earned the Bronze Star for leading his platoon during several skirmishes in March 1951. Then, there was a lull in fighting for a few weeks, but on April 22, about 250,000 Chinese soldiers began their spring offensive. Their push south caused South Korea’s 6th Division to collapse, so U.S. Marine Corps units were sent in to plug the gaps through which the enemy was advancing.
Wilson was the sergeant of his rifle platoon, which was attached to Company G. They were charged with plugging the gap on Hill 902 near the Hwachon Reservoir, just north of the 38th Parallel.
Around midnight on April 23rd, the Chinese overran Company G’s outpost. Wilson’s platoon was forced to defend themselves in hastily constructed foxholes from the heavy mortar, machine gun, grenade and small-arms fire coming at them from the enemy.
Wilson braved that intense fire to help survivors get back to their defensive line. He directed the treatment of casualties, and even though he’d been struck in the right arm and left leg, he refused aid for himself and continued to move through the men in his platoon, encouraging them to keep up the fight.
Not Giving Up
As the attack got worse, Wilson was wounded again, this time in the head and shoulder. But he again refused medical attention and insisted on staying with his unit. He couldn’t use either of his arms to fire a gun, so instead, he went around resupplying his men with rifles and ammunition he’d collected from the wounded so they could continue firing.
After asking his company commander for help several times, the unit was finally issued reinforcements, and Wilson moved them into strategic positions along the defensive line. He then directed their fire until he was blown off his feet by a mortar round.
The explosion dazed and concussed Wilson and caused him to lose a lot of blood, but he still refused to get medical aid. Despite his weakened state, he continued to go from foxhole to foxhole directing fire, resupplying his men and giving them first aid and encouragement.
Thanks to Wilson, his unit was able to hold onto the position by rallying enough times that the enemy finally turned back.
At dawn, when the final attack had been repulsed, Wilson personally accounted for each man in his platoon before finally walking half a mile unassisted to the aid station to get help for himself. He was transferred to Yokosuka Naval Hospital in Japan and spent five months there before being sent back to the U.S.
Nearly a year later, on April 11, 1952, then-Master Sgt. Wilson received the Medal of Honor from President Harry S. Truman during a White House Rose Garden ceremony, which his parents and brothers attended. Two other Korean War comrades, Army 1st Lt. Lloyd Burke and Army Cpl. Rodolfo Hernandez, also received the nation’s highest award for valor that day.
A few days later, Wilson was given the key to the city by Birmingham’s mayor as his bravery was celebrated across his hometown.
That July, Wilson married Julia Sawls. They had two sons, John and Harold Jr., according to the South Carolina newspaper, The State.
An Honorable Career
Wilson earned his commission as a warrant officer in August 1952 and continued to work his way up the ranks for many more years. A decade later, in December 1962, he took over the post of adjutant of the Marine Corps Engineer Schools at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. A year later, he served in a similar role for the 2nd Tank Battalion.
During Vietnam, Wilson served with Marine Aircraft Group 13 before being assigned as the 6th Marine Corps district personnel officer in November 1968. He retired from the corps in February 1972 after nearly 30 years of service. Wilson continued to help service members by working as a benefits counselor for the Veterans Administration. In 1974, he moved to Lexington, South Carolina, where he remained for the rest of his life.
Wilson died of lung cancer on March 29, 1998. He was buried in Lexington’s Woodridge Memorial Park Cemetery.
The Marine Corps continues to honor Wilson and his achievements. In 2017, a weapons storage facility was named in his honor at Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany, New York, where Wilson once worked. His son, John, spoke on his behalf at the event.
“Dad was so humble about his accomplishments and being a Medal of Honor recipient,” John Wilson said at the building’s dedication. “He would probably say everybody is making too much [of] a big deal over this. He would probably say there are other people more deserving of having a building such as this named after him.”
John Wilson said his father was a private and humble person but that he would be proud of the honor bestowed upon him.
Images courtesy of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library.
The A.H. Fox F. Grade shotgun that accompanied Roosevelt on his 1909 to 1910 African safari, and later during his “River of Doom” Amazon River expedition, will be on display when the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library opens on July 4. American Rifleman can’t think of a better day to officially unveil the Rough Rider’s stunning gun and significant historical artifact to the public than the 250th anniversary of this great nation’s independence.
The craftsmanship and quality poured into this double-barreled shotgun is stunning, although Roosevelt requested a more workmanlike model before his Africa hunt.
“When I wrote you I did not intend to take a shotgun to Africa. I find, however, that I would like to take such a gun, provided that at close quarters I could use it with ball also. In other words I should like in case of an emergency to have it loaded with ball and use it as a spare gun for a lion. Now I have rather a pride in taking American rifles on this trip, and in the same way I should like to take an American gun; but of course you may have by this time decided that you do not care to repeat your very kind offer; in that event will you tell me what the cost of such a gun as I have described, twelve-bore and plain finish, would be?” he wrote in a letter to A.H. Fox in 1908, according to R.L. Wilson’s book “Theodore Roosevelt—Outdoorsman.”
What arrived was different. The exhibition-grade, double-barrel 12-gauge had the words “Made Expressly for Hon. Theodore Roosevelt” inscribed on the right-side barrel. French walnut stock with fleur-de-lis carving, double triggers, extractors scroll engraving, gold inlays and more made it more of a collector’s piece than dangerous-game backup or everyday shooter.
Among the few remaining company records are notes that indicate the frame, barrels and stock were personally selected by Ansley H. Fox.
“…The double-barreled shotgun has come, and I really think it is the most beautiful gun I have ever seen,” Roosevelt wrote to the company after arrival.
“I am exceedingly proud of it. I am almost ashamed to take it to Africa and expose it to the rough usage it will receive. But now that I have it, I could not possibly make up my mind to leave it behind. I am extremely proud that I am to have such a beautiful bit of American workmanship with me.”
With the shotgun’s well substantiated and continuance provenance, it was assessed at $2 million in February 2026. The museum is highlighting much more than simply its craftsmanship, artwork and value, however.
“The primary narrative we aim to share with visitors is that Roosevelt viewed these firearms not merely as weapons, but as essential tools for gathering specimens during his travels,” explained Susan Sarna, Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library senior curator of collections.
“In many ways, the shotgun functioned like a net—serving as a means for scientific collection and study. Roosevelt’s meticulous attention to detail extended to every aspect of his journey, from his clothing and hats to his glasses and, most importantly, his choice of weaponry.”
“To fully immerse visitors in Roosevelt’s adventure, the gun will be presented in a dedicated case within a room that explores his exploits in Africa,” she added. “By highlighting the shotgun in its proper context, we hope to illustrate both its historical significance and Roosevelt’s thoughtful approach to exploration and conservation.”
Roosevelt’s son Kermit inherited the shotgun. It was later owned by Kermit Roosevelt, Jr. In 1974, the family sold it to a historian. It was later purchased by a collector and now is in the museum’s collection.
“What stands out is how proud Theodore Roosevelt was to take an American-made firearm on his African expedition,” Sarna said.
“While he also brought a Holland & Holland, an English gun he admired, the Fox shotgun held particular significance for him. The library will feature this remarkable piece on display inside its original carrying box, accompanied by all its accessories—even the pajamas Roosevelt used to clean the gun.”
Opening Day & Displays On July 4, the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library—located in Medora, N.D., roughly 3.5 hours from Mount Rushmore—will officially open to the public with a special dedication.
That night, Nova Sky Stories will put on “Eyes on the Stars: Theodore Roosevelt and the American West” drone show. Officials are adding to the day’s schedule, and readers are encouraged stay up to date by visiting the library’s Grand Opening webpage.
Much of the displays will be seen by the public for the first time in history. They include items he always kept on his desk at Sagamore Hill, including an inkwell used by Abraham Lincoln, candlestick from the signing of the Treaty of Portsmouth, a photograph of his wife and more.
Visitors will also get a glimpse into a challenging chapter of his life.
“Among these treasures is Theodore Roosevelt’s deeply personal diary from the time when both his wife and mother passed away, featuring the poignant entry marked with an ‘X’ and the words, ‘the light has gone out of my life,’” Sarna said.
“In addition, visitors can view a portrait of Abraham Lincoln that Roosevelt kept in his White House office—a piece he often turned to for inspiration, reportedly asking himself, ‘What would Lincoln do?’ whenever confronted with difficult decisions.”
There’s also full-scale recreation of Roosevelt’s Elkhorn Ranch. “It’s the closest you can get to the Badlands that shaped him,” according to Sarna, “with immersive sights and stories that show how a hunter became one of America’s greatest conservation leaders—and how he learned to balance progress with protecting wild places.”
The grand opening is an amazing way to celebrate this great nation’s 250th anniversary.
Admiral Hyman Rickover bullied physics, bureaucracy, and common sense into submission and birthed the Nuclear Navy. His side quest, the pint-size NR-1 on truck tires, became the weirdest, coolest tool in Cold War deep water.
From Polish Kid To Nuclear Pit Boss
Admiral Hyman Rickover was unique in the annals of the US military. Born in Poland and brought to the US as a child to escape persecution of Jews, Rickover took his first paying job at age nine, earning three cents an hour holding a light for a neighbor who was operating a machine. He entered the US Naval Academy in 1918. In 1922, Rickover graduated 107th out of a total of 540 midshipmen.
Admiral Hyman Rickover was a serious piece of work. He is rightfully known as the Father of the Nuclear Navy. Public domain.
Rickover was acerbic, difficult, and mean. However, he was also notorious for getting stuff done. He spent World War 2 organizing and fixing things on ever-increasing scales. He helped coordinate repairs on the battleship USS California in the aftermath of the Pearl Harbor attacks and ended the war in command of a ship repair facility in Okinawa.
When Nuclear Power Hit The Ocean And Everything Shifted
Admiral Rickover was the driving force behind the use of nuclear reactors in modern warships. He accompanied every new nuclear boat on its first trip out to sea. Public domain.
The Manhattan Project and the two prototype nuclear weapons that ended World War 2 changed the way the world worked. A vast effort was subsequently expended developing novel applications for nuclear energy as both tools and weapons. In 1946, Hyman Rickover took a job at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. His passion became nuclear power for warships.
The original plan was to use miniaturized nuclear reactors to drive US Navy destroyers. Rickover, however, felt that effort would be better expended on submarines.
The Navy, like all bloated military enterprises, enjoys a great deal of administrative inertia. Superior officers who disagreed with the driven little man had him assigned to an office in a disused female restroom in an effort to sideline his efforts. Rickover bulled his way through in the same way he did everything else in his life.
Pressurized Water, Unlimited Endurance, New Tactics
The USS Nautilus was the world’s first nuclear-powered submarine. The Nautilus fundamentally changed the nature of naval combat. Public domain.
In February of 1949, Rickover threw himself into the development of a pressurized water nuclear reactor for submarine propulsion. The prospects were indeed tantalizing. If he could pull this off, Rickover faced the possibility of a stealthy warship that could operate submerged indefinitely. With essentially unlimited energy, a theoretical nuclear-powered submarine could make its own breathable air and clean water.
It could patrol the world’s oceans at will, loitering as needed to avoid detection. At that point, crew endurance and food stores became the limiting factors in operational deployment. Rickover felt that this was a crusade worth fighting for.
His was an inexplicably unpopular position. As a result, Captain Rickover’s superiors wanted him put out of the Navy for failure to achieve flag rank. The list of names the Navy submitted to the US Senate in 1953 for congressional approval of admiral rank did not include Rickover’s.
Where approval of this list is typically a fairly routine, perfunctory thing, the Senate, in this case, refused its blessing without Rickover. The Secretary of the Navy subsequently convened a special promotion board with the express purpose of approving Rickover for that list. The US Senate left the exchange happy, and Rickover got his star.
This is the S1W nuclear reactor that powered the USS Nautilus. It represented cutting-edge 1950s-era engineering. Public domain.
The S1W reactor that Rickover developed was a miracle of 1950s-era technology. Highly reliable and exceptionally safe, this device would fit into a submarine hull with a 28-foot beam. In 1954, the US Navy commissioned the USS Nautilus, powered by an S1W. The Nautilus was the world’s first operational nuclear-powered submarine.
Safety Record That Shamed The Soviets
The Nautilus suffered an underwater collision with the American aircraft carrier USS Essex in 1966. However, none of Rickover’s boats ever suffered a serious reactor failure. Public domain.
Building a compact, self-contained nuclear power plant was a Gordian challenge. Making that device safe to operate for long periods underneath the sea bordered on impossible. However, Rickover pulled it off.
Over the course of the Russian nuclear submarine program, there have been fourteen known catastrophic reactor breaches. Thanks to Rickover and his superhuman compulsion for detail, the US Navy has had none. Spillover tech from US Navy nuclear programs contributed substantially to the safety of American terrestrial reactors as well.
The Interview Chair Trick And Other Rickover Tortures
Rickover was driven beyond all reason. He was also a miserable boss. He personally supervised the launch and shakedown sortie of every nuclear boat launched on his watch. During his tenure as chief of the Navy’s nuclear programs, every candidate for the nuclear power course had to interview with him personally. The content and nature of these interviews became the stuff of legend.
I have a friend who survived his encounter with Rickover. He said that, for starters, Rickover sawed off the front two legs of the chair you sit in a bit shorter than the back two. This meant that if you tried to get comfortable during the interview, you would gradually slide forward out of the chair. Rickover then proceeded to grill you mercilessly just to see how you responded under pressure. Candidates who lost their composure were remanded to Rickover’s unlit coat closet for a time to regain their wits before resuming their interviews.
Power, Eccentricity, And The Personal Submarine
If I were as rich and cool as this guy, I’d be weird, too. Public domain.
All seriously powerful people are eccentric. These eccentricities either drive them to their unusual positions or develop subsequent to their arrival. I would submit Elon Musk, Howard Hughes, Donald Trump, George Soros, Adolf Hitler, and Vladimir Putin as examples. These eccentricities are not necessarily bad. However, there inevitably results a sense of entitlement to one degree or another.
I’m not blaming these people. Were I Elon Musk with half a billion dollars in the bank and my own rocket ship company, I’d expect some cool perks as well. In Rickover’s case, he felt he needed a personal submarine.
CIA vs Rickover Over Nuclear Turf
The nuclear submarine USS Halibut was eventually acquired by the CIA for clandestine use during the Cold War. Hyman Rickover was absolutely livid over that. Public domain.
At such rarefied levels, military operations often distil down to petty little turf wars. Flag officers are absolutely insane about maintaining their own little fiefdoms. Hyman Rickover felt that all nuclear-powered submarines should answer to him personally. Naval Intelligence and the CIA felt otherwise.
The CIA co-opted the USS Halibut as an underwater intelligence gathering platform as part of Operation IVORY BELLS. IVORY BELLS was a fabulously successful initiative designed to locate, isolate, and tap Soviet underwater communication cables.
The communists assumed the cables were secure, so they did not bother encrypting their communications. Once we tapped into these cables, we could surveil Russian military activities in real time with no one being the wiser.
NR-1 The Tiny Nuclear Sub That Went Where Divers Could Not
NR-1 was a small nuclear-powered submarine that was originally proposed as a search and rescue vessel. Reality was a good bit murkier. Public domain.
The very existence of the Halibut was like sand on Hyman Rickover’s eyeballs. When he realized that the CIA wasn’t going to give its spy submarine to him, Rickover decided that the next best thing would just be to build his own. Rickover’s personal nuclear-powered midget sub was designated NR-1. NR-1 was launched in 1969 at a cost of $30 million. That would be about a quarter billion dollars today.
NR-1 was an exceptionally capable machine. She could safely descend more than 2,300 feet deep and use her remote manipulator arms to do Sneaky Pete stuff on the ocean floor at depths well beyond the capabilities of even hard-suit divers. To thrive at those depths, the hull had to be perfectly circular and utterly uniform. Tolerances were less than a millimeter all around. Under Rickover’s direction, naval engineers pulled it off.
Not even the Father of the Nuclear Navy could write a check for a quarter billion bucks without some good reason. Rickover, therefore, declared that NR-1’s mission was actually Deep Sea Rescue. While an honorable pursuit, NR-1 didn’t technically possess the means to rescue anybody. It just went really, really deep.
Inside NR-1 What Made It Work
This is an early concept drawing of NR-1. You can see the truck tires on the bottom that allowed the sub to creep along the ocean floor and gather bits of discarded Russian kit. Public domain.
While NR-1 was an exceptionally capable machine, it was also cramped and fairly austere on the inside. Crew space for the 7-man complement was minimal, and support equipment for stuff like food preparation was decidedly suboptimal. The boat would sortie for up to a month at a time, during which the crew subsisted on instant TV dinners. However, the tech built into the vessel was unprecedented.
Lead shielding for submersible reactors is always a technical challenge in submarine design. NR-1 got around this by incorporating a single lead bulkhead that separated the miniaturized reactor in back from the crew spaces up front. Once complete, NR-1 would indeed operate submerged indefinitely. In actual practice, the limiting factor in operational deployments was the capacity of the toilet.
NR-1 incorporated a set of wheels on the bottom that allowed the sub to creep along the ocean floor. These wheels were equipped with otherwise standard Goodyear truck tires. One crewmember was positioned on his belly in the bottom of the sub behind a set of portholes. In this configuration, NR-1 crept along the sea floor gathering up the remains of Soviet nuclear missiles that splashed down after operational tests.
What We Know About NR-1 Missions And What We Don’t
NR-1 was a weird boat commissioned by kind of a weird guy. It was, however, undeniably cool. Public domain.
Even today, nobody is completely sure what NR-1 actually did operationally. Her conning tower and sail were painted orange in keeping with the charade that she was actually a search and rescue boat. In 1976, NR-1 located an F14 fighter jet that rolled off the deck of the USS John F. Kennedy and sank in 1,960 feet of water. Ten years later, she helped locate the remains of the space shuttle Challenger after it broke up in flight. NR-1 was formally retired in 2009.
Hyman Rickover served through thirteen Presidential administrations. Reagan eventually forced him to retire at age 82. Rickover was rendered apoplectic by that. Public domain.
Hyman Rickover got a special dispensation from Congress to spend a total of 63 years in uniform. He was the longest-serving member of the US armed forces in American history. Rickover served under thirteen different Presidential administrations and oversaw 3,000 ship-years of accident-free nuclear warship operations.
This is the second nuclear-powered attack submarine to be named after Hyman Rickover. It remains in service today. Public domain.
Despite his legendarily grueling work ethic, Rickover was married twice and fathered one child. His first wife died of natural causes after 41 years of marriage. The Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarine USS Hyman Rickover was commissioned in 2021 and remains in active service today.
Despite this draconian approach, or more likely because of it, US Navy nuclear power officers have earned a righteous reputation for excellence in both military and civilian circles. Rickover succumbed to a stroke in 1986 at age 86, four years after he retired from the Navy. His nicknames included “The Father of the Nuclear Navy,” “The Kindly Old Gentleman,” or, simply, “KOG.” Rickover’s ghost still drives the Navy’s nuclear power program to this day.
NR-1 Specifications And Quick Reference
Model
NR-1
Caliber
N/A
Barrel Length
N/A
Overall Length
N/A
Weight
N/A
Capacity
7 crew
MSRP
$30,000,000 (1969)
Pros And Cons Of Rickover’s NR-1 Legacy
Pros: Extreme depth capability, remarkable safety culture, innovative mission systems like manipulator arms and seafloor wheels.
Cons: Cramped crew conditions, limited galley, ambiguous official mission, zero true rescue capability despite the cover story.
During a 30-year career, Marine Corps Chief Warrant Officer 4 Harold Edward Wilson saw action during three major wars. His leadership during the Korean conflict helped his beleaguered unit survive an onslaught by Chinese forces. That bravery under fire earned him the Medal of Honor. 
Wilson continued to help service members by working as a benefits counselor for the Veterans Administration. In 1974, he moved to Lexington, South Carolina, where he remained for the rest of his life.
