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Upon graduation from West Point in 1919,<em> Bill Wyman</em> was assigned to the Coast Artillery Corps. After a year as student at Fort Monroe, he was transferred to the Cavalry. His early service in that branch included attendance at the Cavalry School, the Army Signal School, and the Command and General Staff College. He was a Chinese Language Student from 1928 to 1932, and during part of that period was a member, with Roy Chapman Andrews, in the Central Asiatic Expedition for the American Museum of Natural History; he also observed military operations of the Japanese and Chinese Armies. Following service as an instructor in the Cavalry School and as a member of the War Department General Staff, Bill returned to Asia in 1942 for service in the China-Burma-India Theater as Assistant G3. From there he went to North Africa to serve in the G3 section of Allied Forces Headquarters. After a year as Assistant Division Commander of the 1st Infantry Division, Bill returned to the United States to command the 71st Infantry Division at Fort Benning. Following World War II and several stateside assignments, he again saw combat as commander of the IX Corps in Korea. He was Commanding General of the Continental Army Command when he retired with four stars in 1958.</p>
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Earning, during his career, a Distinguished Service Cross, three Distinguished Service Medals, a Silver Star, a Legion of Merit, and a Bronze Star Medal for Valor, he was one of the most decorated men in his class. His great worth was recognized also by Bowdoin College, which awarded him an honorary degree as “Maine's Distinguished Soldier" shortly before he retired.</div>
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Bill was very much a private person even though he became a public figure. At first meeting, one might find him a typical reserved and taciturn New Englander. He was not one to parade his emotions or his innermost thoughts. It remained for those privileged to know him well to realize that here was a balanced, confident soldier, entirely worthy of the often misused term—a natural leader of men. His great success in both staff and command positions gave ample evidence of his respect for the other man's viewpoint, his tolerance, and, above all, his single-minded devotion to duty as he saw it and his love for his chosen profession and for his country.</div>
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Bill was, in many ways, the product of his environment. Born in Augusta, Maine, he attended school in what was to become his retirement home, Damariscotta, where his father was a minister. Bill spent some time at Bowdoin College before he entered West Point in 1917. Those with a fine ear for geographical differences in speech professed to find, even late in his life, more than a trace of the Downeastemer in Bill's accents. And certainly his quiet humor, his self-control, and his dogged adherence to what he knew was right were characteristic of the Maine native at his best.</div>
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In 1921, Bill and Ethel Megginson, who survives him, were married in The Little Church Around the Corner. Their children are Mrs. Eugene Pinney, Mrs. Nancy Geiger, and Willard G. Wyman Jr. After retirement, Bill and Ethel returned to Damariscotta, where they built a house. Bill then spent much of his time in the outdoor sports for which Maine is known. He fished and hunted with the dogs which he had trained. He also acted as consultant for several firms. He and Ethel were accustomed to spending much of the winter in Atlanta and Washington, D. C.</div>
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A fellow soldier has written of Bill: "Willard Wyman was an intense idealist. His enthusiasm was almost boyish and he had a vigorous, fresh outlook on life...His New England reserve was accented by an innate shyness and strict self-discipline. He was a great commander to work for, tolerant of human failings, yet observant and conscientious enough to call them to one’s attention...He was a humble man, not given to blowing his own horn, though he had plenty to blow about. He kept his problems to himself. Even in his last days, which were clearly numbered, he was cheerful and confident, a pleasure and an inspiration to visit.” And from a newspaper article we get a glimpse of Bill after he retired: "Even a total stranger would know at a glance that Bill Wyman was a soldier. Seen in civvies, shopping in a Damariscotta store, he was the very image of the kind of officer the Army seeks to portray. Ramrod erect, face chiselled and handsome, clipped grey hair and twinkling brown eyes, he was made to head an army and wear a chest of medals."</div>
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Bill now rests in Arlington Cemetery where ten of his classmates served as pallbearers at funeral services attended by so many who mourned the passing of a great friend, a distinguished soldier, and a loyal patriot.</div>
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<em>—Several classmates</em></div>