ONCE A MARINE, ALWAYS A MARINE

Major General H. Lloyd Wilkerson, U. S. Marine Corps (Ret.) is a decorated combat veteran of World War II, Korea and Vietnam.  He is in his 96^th year.  I first wrote about him in these pages in 2009.  We have visited and chatted often over the past six years.  The notes are piling up – 750 words weren’t enough in 2009, and woefully short in 2015.

Wilkerson, the son of a West Tennessee dirt farmer, was 14 when his father died.  He says he will never forget his mother’s pronouncement to him the day after the funeral on January 1, 1934, “You are now the head of the family.”

Formal education for Wilkerson and his younger sister seemed out of the question.  Eventually, the 67-acre family farm was lost.  Mrs. Wilkerson resorted to domestic work to keep the family afloat.

Per Wilkerson, “My mother was a super strong person -- her work ethic, coupled with support and assistance from Masonic brothers of my father, made it possible for both my sister and me to graduate from Erskine College in South Carolina.” 

Wilkerson was three semester hours short of graduation when Pearl Harbor was attacked.  Even though he had sufficient education to be commissioned, he enlisted in the Marine Corps as a private in January, 1942.

Over the next 36 years, Wilkerson advanced from private to major general.  His responsibilities grew from leading an eight-man squad on Guadalcanal to commanding the Corps’ largest post, Camp Lejeune.  Later, he concurrently commanded the 3^rd Marine Division and the III Marine Amphibious force while overseas.

While posted in Pocatello, Idaho, Wilkerson met and later married Jeanne Coffin, the daughter of a U.S. Congressman.  She was a descendant of the iconic Coffin family of Quakers which operated the Underground Railroad from Greensboro to Indiana before the War Between the States.

After 69 years of marriage, Jeanne Coffin Wilkerson passed away in 2014.  Three Wilkerson sons survive – Tom, Dick and Fred.  Appreciating that I wore three stripes and General Wilkerson wore two stars, I did not ask why the name, “Fred” was chosen instead of “Harry.”

Each of the three Wilkerson sons is worthy of their own column.  Fred is a retired chef and Richard is Chairman and President Emeritus of Michelin North America, the largest of the Michelin international companies.  But, the eldest son’s career path best fits our genre of writing about veterans.

Tom Wilkerson and his wife recently drove down from their Northern Virginia home to visit General Wilkerson.  I was with the general when he took his son’s approach call by speaker-phone, “Hello, my dad, we are 100 miles out, see you soon.” 

This call wasn’t atypical -- General Wilkerson talked often of his sons.  I knew Tom had graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in the Class of 1967.  I also knew Peter Pace (16^th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) was in the same class – and that Tom and Peter made brigadier general at the same time – fathers notice small details such as these.

I knew Tom Wilkerson and Peter Pace both chose to take their USNA commissions as Marine Corps officers.  While Pace leaned towards infantry, Wilkerson became an aviator and fighter pilot.  He was a graduate of the U.S. Naval Fighter Weapons School (Top Gun) and a weapons/tactics instructor early in his career.

Later, Tom Wilkerson was an exchange pilot with the Royal Air Force, commanded a Marine Corps Fighter Squadron and was a veteran of Operation Desert Storm.  At the time of his retirement in 1998, he led the largest command in the Marine Corps – over 100,000 Marines, located at over 200 sites.

Notes taken from my discussions with his father add to the remarkableness of Tom Wilkerson’s Marine Corps career, “When he was young, Tom did not always apply himself.  I think he would have been a zoot-suiter if I had allowed it!  Finally, I told him to shape up, work hard, or enlist in the military – but not as a Marine!  He followed my advice, and upon his graduation from the Naval Academy, he asked my permission to take his commission as a Marine – I said yes.”

A continuing thread of leadership in military and veterans’ advocacies began after Tom Wilkerson retired from the Marine Corps.  He served as President and Chief Executive Officer of both the U.S. Naval Institute (USNI) and the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation.  He currently holds the same position with the National Association for Uniformed Services (NAUS). 

He has appeared on Meet the Press, CNN, NPR, BBC and Fox News as a commentator on military affairs.

Just before I posted that they are the only Marine Corps father-son combination who retired as major generals, they informed me they are not.  But, they are the only pair whose paths to Marine leadership were in different specialties – father as infantry and son as a fighter pilot.

MAJOR GENERALS TOM & LLOYD WILKERSON U.S. MARINE CORPS (RET.)

Without argument, the Generals Wilkerson epitomize, “Once a Marine, always a Marine.” 

Ol'Harry