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- Newspaper Article - Friday December 8, 1940 Oswego Palladium Times - Oswego, New York - J. R. Waterman Named Principal For West Point - Tracy Wilder, Pulaski and William Cheney, Oswego Are The Alternates - Congressman Francis D. Culkin announced Friday that Joseph R. Waterman, son of Mr. and Mrs. Seth Waterman, 38 East Fourth street, has been appointed principal to the U. S. Military Academy at West Point from Oswego County. Tracy H. Wilder, Jr., Pulaski and William Cheney, 93 East Albany Street, Oswego, were appointed first and second alternates. Appointments were made Judge Culkin explained, on the basis of the young men's standings in a competitive Civil Service examination conducted in Oswego by the U. S. Civil Service commission October 5. Eight took the test which was confined to residents of Oswego County about July 1. Failure of the principal to qualify, however, will open the appointment to the alternates in the order of their standing. Mr. Waterman stood 89.5 in the examination, an unusually high mark for this type of test which is noted for its stiffness. It has been some years since any candidate for West Point stood as well. Mr. Wilder received a mark of 82, and Mr. Cheney 76.5. A graduate of Oswego High School, class of 1938, Mr. Waterman stood second in his class and was salutatorian. He was strongly recommended as to character and standing by the school faculty, the congressman said. The principal who celebrated his 20th birthday last summer while at Camp Perry, Ohio, where he competed in national rifle competition, turned in a brilliant shooting record in the marksman class and placed 158th in 30 caliber competition. He outdistanced all competitors in the marksman class and won ten medals at the meet. He is range official of the Oswego Rifle club, and in addition to shooting, is interested in making model airplanes, for which he has received several prizes. It has been young Waterman's ambition for several years to attend West Point. If he had not stood first on the examination he intended to join the Army air corps. Mr. Wilder is 18 and the son of Mr. and Mrs. Tracy Wilder of Pulaski. He has had some military training, and has been _ at the Braden preparatory school at Cornwall-on-the-Hudson, preparation for the West Point tests. Last summer he attended the CMTC Camp at Fort Niagara. A graduate of Pulaski Academy in June 1940, Mr. Wilder was prominent in undergraduate activities. He took part in dramatics and musical activities, including the band, orchestra and glee club, and was eligibility manager for athletic teams.
Newspaper Article - Monday June 16, 1941 The Palladium Times - Enters Annapolis - Pulaski, June 16 - Tracy H. Wilder, Jr. 18, son of Mr. and Mrs. Tracy H. Wilder of this village, will leave for the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, Tuesday, June 17. He expects to enter the academy as midshipman as the appointee from the 32nd Congressional district of New York, having recently received his appointment from Congressman Francis D. Culkin.
Newspaper Obituary - January 1, 2014 Salmon River News - Pulaski, New York - Retired Navy Captain, Tracy H. Wilder Jr., originally from Syracuse and Pulaski, finally "went ashore" in Tampa, Florida on December 18 where he had been in the loving care of his eldest son, Tracy III. He was 91. Tracy, his wife Barbara and family had made San Luis Obispo, California their home after his Navy retirement in 1974. He had been on active duty for 34 years. They returned to spend summers in Pulaski. True to his nature, Tracy was active in local affairs throughout his life, serving on numerous committees, singing in the church choir, playing trombone, and leading a Boy Scout troop. He was a supporter of the local arts in general and was a contributing member of the Pulaski Historical Society. Tracy was well known for genuinely liking people, disarming conflict with his sense of humor, leading by empowering others, entertaining public speaking, telling corny jokes and singing cornier songs. Tracy Hartwell Wilder Jr. was born in 1922 in Syracuse, and grew up there and in Pulaski, where he met his future wife, the former Barbara Alice Mahaffy. He attended the Naval Academy and the two were married four days after his graduation in 1944. Soon after, he reported for duty as a gunnery officer on the battleship USS North Carolina and saw action in the Pacific. Tracy's lifelong dream was realized in 1960 when he was named skipper of the destroyer USS Stickell, which would become one of the first Navy warships to arrive in the Caribbean during the Cuban missile crisis. Capt. Wilder went on to command the amphibious assault ship USS Raleigh and an eight-ship amphibious squadron during the Vietnam War. His career accumulated and is chief of the United States Military Assistance Advisory Group to the Danish government in Copenhagen. His beloved wife of 66 years, Barbara, passed away in San Luis Obispo in 2010. Tracy is survived by his five sons, Tracy III in Florida, Mark in Maryland, Bryan in Denmark, Andrew in Oregon and Thomas in Alaska, in addition to nine grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. A memorial service in Pulaski is tentatively scheduled for early August of 2014.
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