The family of fallen Camp Pendleton Marine Sgt. Wade Wilson will be on base Thursday to receive his Silver Star at a special ceremony.
According to Wilson's Silver Star citation (published in part by the Marine Corps Times):
“His selfless dedication to place himself directly in the line of fire demonstrated tremendous courage and protected his fellow Marines from further harm.”
As Home Post reported last year, the 22-year-old Wilson was killed May 11, 2012 in Afghanistan. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment at Camp Pendleton.
Soon after Wilson's death, his best friend Marine Cpl. Josh Marreel made a YouTube video asking Taylor Swift (of whom Wilson was a huge fan) "just to think of him":
"Anybody that knew Willy knew that he worshiped you. He even slept with a poster of you in between our beds in Afghanistan."
In response to the video, Swift telephoned Wilson's parents, and sent condolence flowers to the Wilson family. The note attached read:
“Wade, thank you for loving my music. I won’t forget it, and I will never forget you. All my love, Taylor Swift.”
Swift also told the Wilsons she wanted to wear their son's dog tags in her next music video as a way of honoring his sacrifice.
And she did, in her "Both of Us" video. Click here to watch. You can see Taylor wearing the dog tags at 3:21.
