[1] After his return to the United States he attended The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, receiving a master's degree in 1940.

By the end of the war, he had obtained the rank of lieutenant colonel and had been awarded the Bronze Star Medal twice and the Purple Heart twice.

He then joined the United States Department of Defense in Washington, D.C., where he worked to negotiate agreements about U.S. military bases abroad.

Wilson returned to Washington, D.C., in 1970, becoming Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs under Marshall Green.

After Wilson suffered a heart attack, he was reassigned to the White House and there led negotiations related to the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.

[2] Wilson and his new office were tasked with convincing regional bureaus of the importance of human rights in U.S. foreign policy in the wake of congressional activism.