Charles Richard “Chuck” Wilson was born in Missouri, 16 December 1921. He attended Citrus Junior College in the Los Angeles area, majoring in mathematics. He worked at North American Aviation for a brief period before enlisting in the Army Air Corps on 11 April 1942.

Wilson received a reserve commission on 29 April 1943. He flew a wide variety of aircraft during flight training, including the BT-9B, BT-13A, BT-15, PT-17, AT-6A/C/D, AT-11, AT-23B. Later, he transitioned to the L-5, BC-1A, C-45F, P-39, P-40, P-51 and B-26. He received advanced training in the B-17F/G. The crew photograph shown above was taken during training in Tennessee. Wilson is in the front row, second from the left.

His B-17G was hit by flak on his first bombing mission over Germany, on 16 February 1945, near Gelsenkirchen, located in the northern part of the Ruhr Valley. Gelsenkirchen was a center for oil refining and coal production. They were able to drop their bomb load on target, but, eventually, had to ditch over the North Sea. He was the co-pilot.

The crew survived, but was captured. Chuck Wilson was a POW in Stalag XIIID in Nuremburg, and Stalag VIIA in Moosburg. He was liberated on 29 April 1945. He continued in active military service for a short period after World War II, serving as a flight instructor, flight inspector and check pilot.

After separation from active service he flew a variety of small civilian aircraft, working as a corporate pilot, flight instructor and technical advisor. He was killed in a crash at sea on 10 October 1953, off the coast of the Galapagos Islands, only 32 years of age. At the time he was flying a spotter plane for a fishing fleet. Chuck Wilson was a resident of San Diego, California.