Odessa's war heroes

A young war hero from Odessa who died in Vietnam will be honored by having a post office named for him.

U.S. Rep. Mike Conaway sponsored a bill last week in the U.S. House of Representatives to put Cpl. Alfred ‘Mac' Wilson's name on Odessa's main post office branch just off Second Street.

Wilson died March 3, 1969. Returning from a mission in Quang Tri Province, Wilson's platoon came under fire. During an intense firefight, the 21-year-old threw himself on a grenade to save others.

Wilson played football at Odessa High and graduated in 1967.

Sue Wilson recalled Monday how important being a Marine was to her younger brother. Mac Wilson actually signed up for the Marine Corps before he graduated high school.

"That was his life dream - to go to the Marines," she said.

Sue Wilson was 23 when her brother died. Three months later, their mother died of a heart attack. Sue Wilson said she believes her mother died of a broken heart since she'd no previous ailments.

Vice president Spiro T. Agnew presented Mac Wilson's Medal of Honor on April 20, 1970, at the White House. Sue Wilson and her father went alone to Washington, D.C., to receive the award.

Sue Wilson said having a post office named after her brother overwhelms her, and she deeply appreciates Conaway's efforts.

"He's such a wonderful, wonderful person," she said.

Last fall, Conaway also passed a bill to have the post office on 52nd Street adorned with the name of another Odessa native, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Marvin "Rex" Young, who died in the Vietnam War in 1968 at the age of 21. Young and Conaway were classmates at Permian High.

"Being the same age, I think back 40 years packed full of memories that I have enjoyed, both good and the bad, which Mac instinctively surrendered for his country and friends. The amount of sacrifice is incomprehensible," Conway said in a news release.

Anna Koch, Conway's press secretary, predicted the measure would pass the Senate unanimously and then be signed by President George W. Bush. The naming ceremony will be scheduled at that time.

Sue Wilson said the post office that will carry her brother's name just happens to be the one her family used.

"It's just meant to be," she said.

WHAT'S HAPPENING?

>> The post office that will be named after Alfred ‘Mac' Wilson is located on 200 N. Texas Ave. in downtown Odessa.