WILBUR R. SPRADLING, JR., 1LT, USAF
Wilbur Spradling, Jr. '50
Lucky Bag
From the 1950 Lucky Bag:
WILBUR RODNEY SPRADLING, JR.
Weatherford, Oklahoma
Bill came to the Academy from Oklahoma after enlisted duty in not one, but two services. Here he has proved repeatedly during his four-year academic foray, just what hard work can accomplish. A civilian pilot before he entered the Army Air Corps, Bill likes the Navy best when it takes him aloft. The afternoons spent flying from the Air Facility across the Severn were his favorite hours at the Academy. Bill appreciates the finest in music; his record collection kept us all aware of his presence with strains of Beethoven echoing from his room.
WILBUR RODNEY SPRADLING, JR.
Weatherford, Oklahoma
Bill came to the Academy from Oklahoma after enlisted duty in not one, but two services. Here he has proved repeatedly during his four-year academic foray, just what hard work can accomplish. A civilian pilot before he entered the Army Air Corps, Bill likes the Navy best when it takes him aloft. The afternoons spent flying from the Air Facility across the Severn were his favorite hours at the Academy. Bill appreciates the finest in music; his record collection kept us all aware of his presence with strains of Beethoven echoing from his room.
Loss
Wilbur was lost on July 22, 1952 when the F-80C Shooting Star fighter-interceptor he was piloting received a direct hit by anti-aircraft fire, crashed, and exploded. He was a member of the 35th Fighter-Bomber Squadron, 8th Fighter-Bomber Group.
Other Information
From researcher Kathy Franz:
In 1944 Wilbur attended Southwestern summer school. In the fall he was active in campus affairs and was on the Dean’s honor roll. Concurrently, he continued his education at Weatherford High School. He was in “Sunday’s child,” a one-act play, and he and his brother were both in “The Song of Bernadette” in May 1945. Wilbur graduated as salutatorian of Weatherford High School.
Wilbur had enlisted in the Army on June 22, 1945, at Camp Chaffee, Fort Smith, Arkansas.
In August 1945, he was third alternate nominee to the Naval Academy by Congressman Victor Wickersham. He was discharged in November to attend a year’s prep training for the Naval Academy at Bainbridge, Massachusetts.
He took aviation training in addition to other college work and qualified for a private pilot’s license. Wilbur took flight training at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas.
His mother Helen was notified in August 1953 that there was no hope of finding him. He had completed more than 70 missions before his plane was lost.
His brother Edward “Buddy” was a tenor and piano player who also studied theology at Boston University.
Wilbur was survived by his mother, brother, and sister Martha. His father, a salesman for automotive equipment, died in April 1950.
He was awarded the Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Purple Heart, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.
Wilbur has a memory marker in Oklahoma; a Find A Grave entry is here.
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Lorenzo Daleo and James Hudson were also members of the 13th Company.
James Bowers '50, Hamilton McDowell, Jr. '50, James Wills, Jr. '50, Edward Hotz, Jr. '50, Cedric Peterson, Jr. '50, Lorenzo Daleo '50, George Duncan, Jr. '50, and Christopher Braybrooke '50 were also graduated from pilot training class 51-E, Williams AFB, Arizona, on August 4, 1951. (Sixty-seven Naval Academy graduates completed this class.)
The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.