Voices of Stafford

Wilbur was born and has lived since along the southern bank of Aquia Creek just inland from the Potomac River. From this sparsely populated area he and a few other children walked three miles to school at Route 1. As a boy he helped him grandmother with a boat rental business and learned the business of operating a marina. At age 18, Wilbur started working at Quantico but joined the Navy soon thereafter and survived the second attack on Pearl Harbor as his ship prepared to sail to Iwo Jima. After the war he returned to work at Quantico but opened and continued to expand a marina at Willow Landing on Aquia Creek. The marina is down stream from the Coal Landing port and Government Island about which he shares first hand knowledge. Wilbur’s father was superintendent at the George Washington Quarry located across the creek and from which much sandstone was shipped to Washington for use in major federal buildings. (48 minutes)