Ted Wildman graduated from On-the-Roof Gang Class #19 in July 1937 and was assigned to Station L at Lualualei, Hawaii, where he was in charge of the Direction Finding site. He then transferred to Samoa via Guam in order to establish the new direction finding site at Vaitogi, Samoa. He transferred to Washington, DC to become an instructor at the Radio Materiel School in Bellevue, where he was for the outset of the war. Shortly thereafter, he volunteered for special assignment in China, where he spent most of the war years.

Ted Wildman in the Gobi Desert, circa 1943 and an undated photo

Wildman was identified at the following locations on the OP-20-G Annual Reports of Radio Intelligence Personnel:

12 Jan 1938:   Lualualei, T.H.

09 Jan 1939:   14th Naval District

14 Feb 1940:   Naval Station, Guam, M.I.

24 Feb 1941:   Naval Station, Samoa

You can read more about Ted Wildman in both On-the-Roof Gang, Volume 1 – Prelude to War and Volume 2 – War in the Pacific.

Wildman was one of a small number of On-the-Roof Gang members who wrote a book about his experiences in the Navy. His book, The Expendables, is about his experiences in China during World War II. The Richard Widmark movie, Destination Gobi, was based on Wildman’s book.

Ted Wildman’s obituary was published in the NCVA’s Cryptolog magazine, Volume 08, Fall 1986, page 23:

LCDR THEODORE (TED) J. WILDMAN

Ted Wildman, N4FUJ. OTRG, NCVA, a Naval Security Group pioneer, died 15 September 1986 after an illness of several  years in Florida. Wildman was a frequent contributor to CRYPTOLOG and was the author of THE EXPENDABLES. Before his death, Wildman told CRYPTOLOG Editor Lewis. “I have done everything there is to do in the world at least three times, do not regret my passing when this illness takes me. I feel sorry for the young people with this disease, who will die before they can experience life as I did.” Wildman had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

Ted was a native of Lowell, Massachusetts. He enlisted. in the Navy in 1933. He was commissioned during WWII and served much of that period as an electronics and radio intelligence officer in China and Mongolia.

After the war he worked in Navy electronics intelligence in Washington, London and Istanbul. He retired in 1956 and worked in real estate in Colorado before returning to Washington in 1965 and joining the NSA [National Security Agency]. He worked at Fort Meade, Maryland, Japan and Vietnam before retiring a second time and moving to Florida i n 1980.  Survivors include his wife Lula I., of Clearwater, a daughter, Martha L. Koval of St. Petersburg, Florida and a sister Gladys R. Rodrigues of Kissimmee, Florida.

A much longer memorial to Ted Wildman was published in the NCVA’s Cryptolog magazine, Volume 08, Fall 1986, page 14.

Pertinent data:

Born: 24 January 1914

Location: Lowell, Massachusetts

Died: 15 December 1986

Location: Clearwater, Florida