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| Seaman First Class Wilson O'Neal served on the light cruiser St. Louis at Leyte Gulf when it was hit by a kamikaze. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/30549662/wilson-follis-o_neal http://ussstlouis.net/leyte_gulf_campaign.htm |
Wilson Follis O'Neal never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on October 2, 1919 in Kentucky. His parents Will and Bettie were also both born in Kentucky. His father worked as a farmer and later as a photographer. Wilson had one older brother and four older sisters.
He enlisted in the US Navy and became a seaman first class on the light cruiser USS St. Louis. St. Louis was at Pearl Harbor during the December 7, 1941 attack. She was heavily involved in the war in the Pacific, earning a total of 11 battle stars.
Seaman O'Neal joined St Louis in October 1943. He participated in her support of the marines on Bougainville in November. She was dive-bombed in January 1944. Repairs were completed by March. In June she supported the invasion of Saipan.
St. Louis arrived at Leyte Gulf on November 16, 1944. She was hit by a kamikaze on November 27, 1944 but avoided numerous other near misses. 15 men were killed including Seaman O'Neal.
His grave is at Mount Pleasant Methodist Church Cemetery in Scottsville, Kentucky.
Last year on this date I profiled medic Ernest "Doc" McIlliwain, 2nd Infantry Division. You can read about Ernest here.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
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