"H. Joseph," as he was nicknamed, had written home from Vietnam shortly before his death that, if anything should happen to him he would go without regrets because he believed in what he was doing. The Army paratrooper followed three generations of Wilhelmis into the armed forces: his father had retired in 1962 after thirty years in the Navy; his grandfather was a thirty-year Navy veteran, and his great-grandfather spent thirty years in the Army. Young Wilhelmi also planned to make the Army a career. The 20-year-old sergeant was a grenadier with Company B of the 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry, 173rd Airborne Brigade. He was killed near Duc Pho, Quang Ngai Province on June 10, 1967 after carrying two wounded men to safety and returning for a third. He was posthumously awarded the Silver Star. The 1965 Cardinal Dougherty High School graduate was survived by his parents, two brothers, and four sisters