Lucky Bag Yearbook

From the 1958 Lucky Bag:

CHRISTOPHER BRUCE WILHELMY

Although he hated to admit it, Bruce learned that Maryland was not a suburb of San Antonio; he kept up appearances though, and always claimed that it was. After a brief sojourn with plebe sports, this lanky Texan became a stalwart on both the company basketball and football teams. He seemed to have the traditional girl in every port but always preferred the Southern belles from the Lone Star State. With great ambitions to someday command the Texas Navy, Bruce plans to put in his thirty years in preparation for that glorious day.

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He was also a member of the 20th Company staff (fall).

Loss

Bruce — he seems to have gone by his middle name — was lost on February 17, 1966 when the T-28 aircraft he was piloting crashed near the Naval Test Pilot School, Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland.

Other Information

From Find A Grave:

He was the son of Christopher B. Wilhelmy and Elizabeth Kane, and had an older brother named John.

LT Christopher B. Wilhelmy III flew VFP-62 missions over Cuba during the Cuban missile crisis and received the Distinguished Flying Cross. He wanted to be an Astronaut, so the first step on that road was going to the navy test pilot school at Pax River. It is believed that he was flying a T-28 there when he pulled the wings off of it. He was killed in the crash. This happened on Feb. 17, 1966.

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Christopher went by his middle name Bruce at Alamo Heights High school. He graduated in 1954. Class Pres. 3; Varsity Basketball 3, 4; B Basketball 2; Adv. Pres. 4; A Club 3, 4; Student Coun. 3, Parl. 3; Stage Hands 3, 4; Sgt.-at-Arms 4; Class Treas. 4; Mules Stall Coun. 4, Rules Chairman 4. The basketball team won the Class AAA championship in his senior year.

In September 1963, Bruce was stationed on the Saratoga. He joined his father in Scotland where they played golf and in Ireland where they attended the horse races.

Remembrances

From VFP 62¹:

When I saw the movie about the Cuban missile crisis, one of the scenes showed the pilots walking out to man the aircraft. One of the names on the side of the aircraft was Bruce Wilhelmy. He was a classmate of mine at the academy. He and I were in the 20th company. He was company commander - I was not. It was a sad day when the news filtered down that he died up at Pax River. Lt. Cdr. Scott Ruby, VFP-63 pilot

From VFP 62:

Evidently he was a great guy - and his big smile in his picture on your web site shows the fun loving guy that I’ve always heard he was. BTW, if you’ve ever seen the movie “Thirteen Days”, they do have a character in the movie “playing” Bruce getting ready to fly during the Cuban missile crisis. Catherine Maloney

Photographs

Bruce aboard a carrier with a RF-8 Crusader of VFP-62.

Source

From his 1953 high school yearbook

From his 1953 high school yearbook

From his 1954 high school yearbook

From his 1954 high school yearbook

From the Lubbock Avalanche Journal on March 6, 1954

Book

Bruce is mentioned several times in the book “Blue Moon over Cuba: Aerial Reconnaissance during the Cuban Missile Crisis” By William B Ecker USN (ret.), Kenneth V. Jack, Michael Dobbs.

Distinguished Flying Cross

Unable to locate a citation for the Distinguished Flying Cross cited at Find A Grave.

Related Articles

Monte D’Armand ‘58 was also in 20th Company.

References