COL (Ret) Woodrow W. Wiltse
COL Woodrow W. Wiltse was born in 1918 in Saginaw, Michigan. He graduated from Michigan State University in 1943 and was commissioned in the Field Artillery upon completion of Officer Candidate School (OCS) in 1943.
After entering active duty, he immediately deployed to England and participated in the largest invasion in modern history, landing on Utah Beach in June of 1944 and staying until November 1945. After returning to the United States, he served in the Michigan National Guard until activated and deployed to Germany in 1950.
His assignments include tours in Germany and tours in Fort Sill, OK as both a student and an instructor at the Artillery School. He was nominated for service as the Assistant Army Attache at the U.S. Embassy in Saigon, Vietnam from 1959 to 1960. He is a graduate of the Associate Command and General Staff School and the Defense Language School. He served at the Pentagon in Research and Development, and he later served as the Executive Officer of the 1st Cavalry Division Artillery in Korea. After promotion to Colonel, he was assigned as the Professor of Military Science at the University of Oklahoma from 1965 to 1969. He also served as the Branch Chief of Basic Intelligence at SHAPE (NATO) Headquarters from 1969 to 1973. He was inducted into the U.S. Army Field Artillery OCS Hall of Fame in 1965.
His awards and decorations include: the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Purple Heart, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Croix de Guerre, the Presidential Unit Citation, the American Campaign Medal, the European African Middle East Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Campaign Medal, the World War II Occupation Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Armed Forces Reserve Medal, and the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal.
After retirement in 1973, he returned to Norman and served at the University of Oklahoma as the first Coordinator of Parking and Traffic.