Wilson, Homer Bernard, Jr., 2007 November 27

This is a Living History interview with Homer Wilson class of 1948, conducted by Marilyn Somers on November 27th, 2007, at his home in Lacey Springs, Alabama. The subject is the interviewee’s life, and experiences at Georgia Tech.

Mr. Wilson was born in 1925 in Hogansville, Georgia, where his family has lived since the 1800’s. His love for flying started at an early age when he remembers flying around a field at a picnic his family went to when he was a young boy. Mr. Wilson graduated from high school when he was only fifteen years old and immediately went to Georgia Tech after his graduation, where he lived in Knowles Dormitory his freshman year. Mr. Wilson’s first experience with the military was the time he spent with the ROTC program his first two years of college. Popular names Mr. Wilson can remember are Dr. D.M. Smith, Dr. Brittain, Dr. Knight, and George Griffin. While he was in school, Mr. Wilson had many jobs, including working at Brittain Dining Hall. He was drafted into the Marine Corps and became a Navigation and Bombardier Instructor for three years. Mr. Wilson met Mary, his wife at a high school basketball game and got married in 1944. After he graduated from Georgia Tech, Mr. Wilson attended the University of Virginia to get a graduate degree. While Mr. Wilson was studying at UV, he worked with NACA developing the earliest stages of the space program. He remembers working for Von Braun in the NACA and then NASA. Von Braun, according to Mr. Wilson was a very good motivator. Mr. Wilson eventually got around to flying and now has well over 18,000 flying hours. The majority of the research that Mr. Wilson was working on was on the boosters that would allow the space ship to orbit the moon. Mr. Wilson explains that after NASA put a man on the moon, the space program went downhill due to an overwhelming amount of politics. After forty-one years of service with NASA, Mr. Wilson retired and started his own company, Aero Thermo Technologies. He calls the services his company provides engineering services. He has become an avid woodworker and collector of vintage airplanes. He is very involved with Guatemala and the Shoe Box program. Mr. Wilson has gone on a variety of archeological excursions and has made wells in Mali. He has traveled around the world via boat, taught bible classes at Liberty University, collects books and cars, and even has his own Ramblin’ Wreck. Mr. Wilson went into the Merchant Marines before he got drafted into the Marine Corps and has five children and four grandchildren. Mary, Mr. Wilson’s wife, worked as a nurse to President Roosevelt at Warm Springs Foundation when Mr. Wilson was serving in the military. She remembers President Roosevelt being a very kind man who always made people feel very important.