Raymond Paul Wilson was born on 24 April 1925 in Herkimer, Herkimer county, New York to Alvin Jasper and Cora Irene (Foulkrod) Wilson; he was an only child. Raymond attended Southside High School. He registered for the draft on 5 August 1942 standing 6’4” tall, weighing 185 pounds with blue eyes and blonde hair, he had a scar on his back and was working for the Mark Twain Hotel. He enlisted in his junior year of high school on 4 November 1942.

Private Raymond Paul Wilson (service number 464335) served with Mike Company, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Division as they fought during the Battle of Tarawa, Gilbert Islands beginning 20 November 1943. They were to secure the airstrip to prevent Japanese forces from getting closer to the US as well as it being crucial for the US offensive across the central Pacific. The initial landing was hampered by low tides forcing US troops to leave landing craft and wade ashore. Unfortunately for the Marines, the beach was shaped in such a way that it created a crossfire by the Japanese on shore; casualties were highest this day and many never set foot on the beach. For those who survived the landing, they faced a network of obstacles with fighting close in and savage; forty artillery pieces, nearly 500 pillboxes and a system of trenches and fortifications manned by trained, determined Japanese forces. It was on this day, 20 November 1943, that Pvt. Raymond Wilson gave his life; he is listed on the Courts of the Missing, Honolulu Memorial, Hawaii.

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen saved on Together We Served and Fold3. Can you help write these stories? to this, there will be a smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.

SOURCES: Find-a-Grave; FamilySearch.org; Ancestry.com; Wikipedia