North Brunswick continued its secondary street sign designation for wartime veterans by honoring Ernest Hezekiah Wilson Jr. on May 17.
The intersection of Roxanne Court and Sunny Terrace is marked by a sign for Wilson Way.
According to a proclamation read in his honor, Wilson was born in Norfolk, Virginia, on July 9, 1947, the eldest of six siblings. He comes from a long line of preachers and deacons.
He moved to Brooklyn, New York, then the Bronx, New York, finally before settling in North Brunswick.
Wilson served in the U.S. Army from August 1966 to August 1969. He was drafted right after high school. He was deployed to Pleiku, Vietnam, from August 1967 to August 1968.
At Camp Enari (Dragon Mountain) he was assigned to the 4th Infantry Division, a Field Battalion member of the Artillery Battery Unit.
He was Honorably Discharged on Aug. 17, 1972.
Wilson went on to serve in the U.S. Army Reserves for four years at Fort Tilden, New York, and was part of the 5th Field Artillery USAR with last rank as sergeant.
He was Honorably Discharged on March 21, 1980.
While serving the United States, Wilson earned the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Campaign Medal and the Vietnam Service Medal.
Wilson received a FCC 1st Class Engineer License in Broadcasting and Radio Telephony, Operations and Communications from Announcers Training Studio/Institute in New York City. He started working in the data processing/telecom/IBM field. He became a COBOL/Assembler/IBM/programmer after attending night classes and then went to work for Manufacturer Hanover Trust Company/Banking before moving on to AT&T/Bell/Phone Companies.
After leaving the programming field, Wilson began a career in information technology. He worked for companies such as National and Sony Electronics.
He also worked for New York State Police as a communication specialist.
Wilson is currently retired but dedicates his time as a deacon at the Without Walls Christian Church.
Wilson is married to Barbara (Slatter) and they have two children, Ernest and Angelique. They also have several grandchildren.
Wilson is an active member of the VFW of North Brunswick and still resides in North Brunswick.