Orland Park's Jim Wilkins Enters Hall of Fame on Leo Veterans Day

On Friday, November 6, 2015, Leo High School President Dan McGrath presented Jim Wilkins his 1944 high school diploma. Thursday, Wilkins returned to commemorate Veterans Day, only to be inducted into the school's hall of fame.

Two days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, 15–year old Jim Wilkins left his desk at Leo High School to enroll in the Navy. A newspaper photographer from the afternoon "Herald American" captured his image as he lined up in the hallway with the others at Chicago’s U.S. Courthouse. The headline read “Chicagoans Rush to Join Navy” and the photo involuntarily exposed Wilkins as too young to serve.

A year later on his 17th birthday - January 7, 1943 – Wilkins followed his country into war and honored a family heritage rooted in World War I and The Civil War.

At age 89, Wilkins returned to Leo High School six years ago for a Veterans Day ceremony and received his high school diploma. Wilkins brought his extended family and a three-ring binder notebook of sealed news clips, including the fateful "Herald American" story and photo from the afternoon broadsheet. He recalls that the photo was taken in the morning and his parents saw the image in the paper that evenings causing them to reel their son back in.

Shortly after placing a wreath at the Leo War Memorial as part of the school’s 2015 Veterans Day remembrance, Wilkins stood at attention as Bugles Across America played “Taps” in recognition of service Veterans provided their country. After, everyone escaped the chill for hot coffee inside the cafeteria. Alone, Wilkins stood quietly at the stone memorial and fingered his way down until he found an older classmate – Thomas Kilgariff, class of ’42.

“I was eyeballing the memorial during the ceremony but I couldn’t pick Tommy out so I went back to find him,” said Wilkins. “I went to Tommy’s funeral. He was a Navy fighter pilot but he died after the war with a couple of others who were test pilots.

“Right before my 17th birthday the Christian Brothers found out I had enlisted,” said Wilkins. “This Brother Lyons – a really good guy – sat me down and for two hours told me about the birds and the bees, and it was a good thing he did. We saw movies and stuff when we enlisted but he set me straight.”

Jim and his wife Florence have been married for 73 years and have four children, several grandchildren and live in Orland Park. Jim worked at Illinois Bell as a marketing manager. He remains active in the Tinley Park VFW post and serves as an honor guard in funeral services for his former comrades. Larry Bahnaman, ’60, who nominated his good friend for the Hall of Fame, reports Wilkins “is proud to tell everyone that he’s a Leo Man.”