ABOUT COMMANDER RALPH 'KAISER' WILHELM, USN (Ret.)
Commander Ralph V. Wilhelm, Sr., USN (Ret.) was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on October 1, 1917. His father, a Chief Radioman, who was in the Navy for twenty-five years, was the Officer-in-Charge of the Radio Station at Koko Head on Oahu when Ralph was born.
This photograph
of Commander Ralph V. Wilhelm, USN, was taken in 1950 at Tokyo, Japan, when
he was
Aide and Flag Secretary to Vice Admiral C. Turner Joy, USN, Commander Naval
Forces, Far East (COMNAVFE).
Ralph earned his Bachelor Degree from Loyola University of Los Angeles on 11 June 1939. Four days later, on 15 June, Ralph was a Seaman at the Naval Reserve Aviation Base at Long Beach, California for thirty days. During this period, he was required to learn to solo a Navy training plane, the N3N "Yellow Peril". This was called an "elimination base", meaning that students who could not learn to solo were eliminated from the program. Nine out of the fourteen students who started the course graduated, and Ralph was number three in his class. The graduates were then ordered to the Naval Air Station (NAS) at Pensacola, Florida, as Naval Aviation Cadets. At Pensacola, Ralph would learn to fly the Navy way!
Service with the United States Naval Reserve
One year later, on 8 June 1940, Ralph graduated as a pilot and received his Wings of Gold and was designated Naval Aviator #6470, with commission as Ensign in the United States Naval Reserve (USNR). His first duty was flying scout observation catapult seaplanes (SOC) from the heavy cruiser USS Portland which was then attached to the Hawaiian Detachment. He spent thirty months flying from Portland until she was torpedoed at the 3rd Battle of Savo Island at Guadalcanal.
Ralph was then assigned as Executive Officer of two shore-based scouting squadrons VS-65 and VS-57, operating from New Caledonia and the New Hebrides. After earning seven Battle Stars, two Air Medals and a Navy Unit Commendation, he was sent to NAS Corpus Christi, Texas.
Service with the United States Navy
At Corpus Christi, he was Commanding Officer of two Training Squadrons, 12-A at Cuddihy and 15-B at NAS Kingsville, from mid-1943 to early 1945. It was here, at Corpus Christi, that he decided to make the Navy a career and he then transferred from USNR to US Navy. In early 1945, he was assigned to the USS Nehenta Bay (CVE-74) as Air Officer. He spent the last year of the war on this jeep aircraft carrier which had a complement of fourteen Grumman "Avenger" torpedo planes (TBF and TBM) and twenty Grumman "Wildcat" FM-2 fighters on board. While aboard Nehenta Bay he earned two more Battle Stars.
When World War II was over, Ralph spent one year at the General Line School located at the War College, Newport, Rhode Island.
From 1947 to 1949, Ralph was assigned to the Joint Brazil US Military Commission (JBUSMC) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as Aviation Communications Officer. Prior to his assignment to Brazil, Ralph spent several months at the Navy Language School in order to be fluent in the Portuguese language. When Ralph left Brazil, the Commanding General of the Brazilian Air Force (FAB), with whom he worked, presented him with the wings of an honorary Brazilian Air Force pilot.
In June 1949, Ralph reported to Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, where he earned a Masters Degree (MA) in Industrial Relations and Personnel.
The Korean War
In June 1950, after graduating, he was sent to Tokyo, Japan, to be Aide and Flag Secretary to Vice Admiral C. Turner Joy, USN, Commander Naval Forces Far East (COMNAVFE). The Korean War had just started, so Ralph, as a Naval Aviator, was required to fly as a pilot at least four hours each month in order to receive his monthly flight pay and to maintain flight proficiency. So, he would frequently fly as co-pilot in VP-6 P2V-3W "Neptune" patrol planes from NAS Atsugi, near Tokyo. The "Neptune" aircraft were equipped with jet pods attached to each wing. The jets were only activated if the patrol plane was being chased by an enemy jet aircraft. On 8 October 1950, while flying at l,000 feet altitude over Wonsan on the east coast of North Korea, Ralph's aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire, including a 20mm shell. The plane was badly damaged with several holes in the fuselage from the shrapnel, but he and the pilot returned the plane safely to NAS Atsugi with no loss of life.
In mid-June 1951, Vice Admiral Joy was directed to initiate peace talks at Panmunjon between North and South Korea. As the Admiral's Aide, Ralph was involved in this event. In October 1951, upon his detachment, Ralph was awarded the Bronze Star Medal by Vice Admiral Joy.
Ralph's next assignment was as Executive Officer of the Naval Air Facility, LitchField Park, west of Phoenix, Arizona, from late 1951 to early, 1954. Next, from early 1954 to mid-1955, he was assigned as Commanding Officer of Utility Squadron ONE (VU-1) at NAS Barbers Point on Oahu, near Honolulu. This was his third command of a Navy Aircraft Squadron.
In mid 1955, Ralph reported to the Staff of Vice Admiral Pride, USN, Commander Naval Air Force, Pacific Fleet, (COMNAVAIRPAC), as Enlisted Personnel Officer at NAS North Island, San Diego. In 1957, he was assigned as Executive Officer and Associate Professor of Naval Science at the NROTC Unit, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
In late 1959, Ralph was grounded from flying because he had to wear glasses. This meant that his 50% flight pay would cease, so Ralph requested voluntary retirement and this was approved.
During his twenty-one years as a Naval Aviator, Ralph qualified as pilot of single and multi-engine seaplanes and landplanes. He had been on active duty from 15 June 1939 to 31 December 1959.
Civilian employment with the Honeywell Corporation
On I January 1960, Ralph joined the management of Honeywell Corporation, and would remain in the employment of that firm for over twenty-two years. Between 1960 and 1982, Ralph was their Director of Human Relations and Personnel at both Boston and Phoenix.
Ralph has been asked "which career did you enjoy the most?", and he always responded that he enjoyed his Navy career the most because of the frequent challenges, flying different aircraft, command situations and new assignments every 2 to 3 years.
Ralph "Kaiser" Wilhelm meets and marries Olga
This photograph of Ralph and his lovely wife Olga was taken aboard MS Nieuw Amsterdam en route from Singapore to Hong Kong.
I lost my first wife, Kay, to cancer in 1988. On 16 January 1991, I met Olga! Each of us was invited, as singles, to a financial planning seminar conducted by a local investment firm. Olga arrived about 10 minutes late and all seats were occupied except two seats on my left. This beautiful lady asked me if she could sit in the seat next to me. I asked her to sit down as no one else was using the seat. She was wearing a pair of Navy wings, so I inquired if her husband was a Naval Aviator? She said, "no, I am a widow, and the wings were given to me by a man friend!"
We talked during the seminar and at the end I asked if I could escort her to her car in the parking lot. She said, "yes", and, after talking for about ten minutes, I asked if I could take her to a dinner dance some evening? She said, "yes", and commenced to write down her telephone number! I told her that was not necessary, because, I already knew the number! This concerned her greatly, and she asked me how I knew her telephone number. I then told her that I was looking over her shoulder when she filled out the form given to us by the investment firm! From memory, I then repeated the number and also her address! We were engaged two months later! We then sold each of our homes, and bought and moved into our new home in Poway, California.
We were married in Rancho Bernardo, San Diego, California on 7 December 1991. This date was selected because it was on a weekend between Thanksgiving and Christmas. This timing would allow our six children and their families to attend. At the cocktail hour, each evening, we toast the investment firm that brought us together! With regard to our retirement activities, we travel frequently. At this time of writing, in the Spring of 2003, eleven and a half years since we were married, we have flown together on 295 flight segments around the world on United Airlines. We chose United, because, Olga is a retiree of that airline, and, as a result, they treat us very well! Also, together, we have taken 20 cruises and visited most parts of this world.