“After serving with the University of Washington Ambulance Corps Section 571, through the perilous days of the big Italian push, without a scratch, Chester William Wilson, ‘19, was killed in an accident, January 15, 1919.” (TYEE, 1919, pg. 39.) Chet, as he was called by his fellow members of the 571st Ambulance Corps, enlisted on May 25, 1917, when the Corps was first organized on the UW campus. The unit went through a long training period at Allentown, Pennsylvania, beginning in June, 1917. The 571st was finally sent overseas for service in Italy in June of 1918.
Described by his unit as one of their most beloved members, Chet died when the ambulance he was riding in rounded a turn too quickly and he was thrown from the vehicle headlong into a tree. He died later that day. His death was even more poignant for his friends because it had been preceded by an act of kindness. Earlier in the trip they had come across a German soldier in need of a lift. Chet gave him his seat in the ambulance and was sitting precariously on his inverted helmet when the accident occurred.
Chet majored in journalism at UW and his writing talent won him an early place on the staff of the Daily. He was a member of Delta Upsilon Fraternity. A native of Kamloops, British Columbia, Chet was the oldest of four children born to John D. Wilson and Jessie Hill. The family later settled in Arlington, Washington. Originally buried near Mondorf, Luxembourg, Chet was reinterred after the war at Arlington’s cemetery. (bit.ly/uw_wilson)