... For three years he attended Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. He left his senior year and entered the Columbia University School of Medicine. He received his B.A. from Columbia in 1895 and his M.D. in 1898.
On 10 Jun 1898 he was married to Miss Mabel Blanche Whitney in Boston, Massachusetts. She was the daughter of David Rice Whitney and Sophia Paine Dunn. Dr. Wheeler and Mabel later became the parents of Everett Pepperrell Wheeler II in 1900.
He was a practicing physician, including a stint at Erie County (Buffalo, New York) Hospital. When war broke out in 1914 he joined the Red Cross as a volunteer and left for Europe during the first winter.
Dr. David Everett Wheeler later joined the French Foreign Legion as an enlisted man (1915-1916). In 1916, he received the Croix de Guerre (War Cross) for heroic actions. While suffering from a serious leg wound he gallantly stopped to render aid to other wounded soldiers as he crawled back to the rear lines.
After his initial discharge he then served in the Canadian Army as a Captain/Doctor (1916-1917). He was assigned to British hospitals in England.
When the United States entered the war (1917) he secured a transfer to the U.S. Army as a lieutenant in the Medical Corps. 1LT Wheeler ask to be sent to the front lines with the boys instead of serving at a base hospital. He died under fire attending to those soldiers.
Silver Star Citation
Awarded for actions during the World War I
By direction of the President, under the provisions of the act of Congress approved July 9, 1918 (Bul. No. 43, W.D., 1918), First Lieutenant (Medical Corps) David E. Wheeler, United States Army, is cited (Posthumously) by the Commanding General, American Expeditionary Forces, for gallantry in action and a silver star may be placed upon the ribbon of the Victory Medals awarded him. First Lieutenant Wheeler distinguished himself by gallantry in action while serving as a Medical Officer with the 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Division, American Expeditionary Forces, in action south of Soissons, France, 18 July 1918, while attending the wounded under enemy fire.
General Orders: GHQ, American Expeditionary Forces, Citation Orders No. 9 (August 1, 1920)
Action Date: 18 Jul 1918
Service: Army
Rank: First Lieutenant
Regiment: 16th Infantry Regiment
Division: 1st Division, American Expeditionary Forces
