Wilfred C. Ford
Biography: Wilfred “Bill” Craig Ford was born on February 1, 1918, in Juneau, Alaska. He was the son of Walter Freeman Ford and Nina Francesca Jorgenson and attended Thomas Jefferson High School in San Antonio, Texas, graduating on May 27, 1936.
Service Time: Bill served as a Private in the U.S. Army from 1937 to 1938. He then entered the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, graduating in 1942 as a 2nd Lt. Bill also married the former Evelyn Joan Gray in 1942 and they are shown below leaving Bill’s graduation ceremonies. The new couple had one son, Craig Ford, born in 1947.
His WWII assignments included Platoon Commander, Headquarters Company of the 5th TD Group from Nov. 1942 to Jan. 1943; Headquarters Company Commander of the 13th TD Group from Feb. 1943 to Jan. 1944; Company B Commander of the 899th TD Battalion from Jul. 1944 to Jan. 1945; Assistant S-2 & Assistant S-3 of the Headquarters Company, 1st TD Group from Jan. 1945 to July 1945 and S-4, Headquarters Company of the 899th TD Battalion from Jul. 1945 to Sep. 1945.
His post-war assignments included Regimental Staff Officer for the 9th Infantry Division from 1945-1947; ROTC Instructor, Akron University, Akron, Ohio, from 1947 to 1950; Student at the Armored School, Fort Knox, Kentucky, from 1950-1951; S-4 Officer for the 2nd Armored Division, West Germany, in 1951; G-4 Officer of the Berlin Command, Berlin, Germany, from 1952 to 1954; Student at Syracuse University from 1954-1955; Assistant Comptroller, Presidio, San Francisco, California, from 1955-1957; Chief, Program Review & Analysis, 8th Army, Seoul, Korea, 1957-1958; Headquarters Programs Officer CONARC (Continental Army Command) Fort Monroe, Virginia, from 1959-1962; Personnel Staff Officer at the Pentagon from 1962-1965; Assistant G-1, HQ IFFV (1st Field Forces Vietnam) Nha Trang, Viet Nam, from 1965-1966; Deputy Post Commander, Long Binh Post, VN, from 1966-1967, Chief, Comptroller Division, Pentagon from 1967-1968 and Executive Officer, National Guard Bureau, at the Pentagon, from 1968-1969. Bill retired from the U.S. Army in 1969 at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
Letter to Mother from Germany – March 29, 1945
Letter to Mother from Germany – April 23, 1945
Bill’s awards include the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star with Valor device and three Oak Leaf Clusters for subsequent awards, a Purple Heart, Air Medal (shown receiving in photo above), Belgian Fouragere, and the Parachute Badge as well as the WWII European Theater, Victory and Occupation medals.
Bronze Star w/Valor Device Citation – Actions in Normandy, France, on July 17, 1944
On December 22, 1966, Bill married the former Peggy Virginia Flood (shown above left) who was the daughter of William Hall Flood and Annie Elizabeth Cowart. She was born in Lakeland, Florida but the new couple would reside at a long list of locations depending on Bill’s assignments. They finally ended up in Fort Belvoir, VA. The photo above right is Bill prepared for a parachute jump at Fort Benning, Georgia, in 1962.
After leaving the military, Bill worked as a Systems Analyst at M. Gale & Company in 1970 until he started at the United States Postal Service (photo on left below), where he held various executive managerial positions, including Program Director, from 1970 to 1979.
In his spare time, Bill enjoyed golf, travel and microscopy, swimming, diving, gymnastics & ice skating. He was also a member of a number of organizations, including the West Point Society; Association of Graduates of the USMA (United States Military Academy); Retired Officers Association; Syracuse Society of Controllers, NY; Old Town Civic League, Alexandria, VA; and Carlysle House Foundation, Alexandria, VA.
Bill passed away on March 12, 2013. I want to thank Bill’s son, Craig, for providing the photos and information on his father and for his service to this country in the U.S. Army.