Secret Service agent from W. Oak Lane closes curtain on 26-year career, final assignment guarding President Obama

HARRY WILSON JR. had just reached for the phone to check the score of a Penn State football game when he heard the gunfire. Nicetown born and West Oak Lane raised, he was a little more than four years on the job as an emergency team member of the Secret Service. And a mostly uneventful day inside the security booth on the North Lawn of the White House had quickly turned into one of the most nerve-wracking experiences of his life.

"As soon as I picked up the phone to check the score, the shots rang out and I said, 'This is not a firecracker,' " he recalled. "We had an alarm system and I was trying to hit a particular button, but it had a plastic shield over it and I remember out of panic trying to put my finger through the plastic. And then I told myself to just calm down and do what you are trained to do. I could literally see the rounds coming out of the rifle and I thought I had to get close enough to shoot him."

It was Oct. 29, 1994, and Francisco Martin Duran had taken aim at the White House with a SKS semiautomatic rifle in an attempt to gun down then-President Bill Clinton.

Clinton was safe inside the walls of the White House but numerous reports suggest that Duran took aim at a man who was similar in appearance to the president.

Wilson and a colleague darted across the North Lawn, "tree by tree," toward the gunman. As they approached, bystanders on the sidewalk tackled Duran right before Wilson and his partner scaled the White House gate and cuffed him.

"My co-worker got to him first, but ironically, the reason why I was credited with the arrest was because my handcuffs were used," he recalled.

Duran was later sentenced to 40 years in prison for attempted assassination.

Last month, Wilson, 49, pulled down the curtain on a 26-year career with the Secret Service, an agency that has historically had a dual mission of investigation and protection.

Most recently, he has been on guard detail for President Obama, seamlessly blending into the background while working one of the most high-stress jobs in the world.

Wilson's path to guarding the most highly visible man on the planet was not typical by any means. He initially had no interest in a career in law enforcement, graduating from the now-defunct Germantown High School before heading to Hampton University, where he earned a Mass Media Arts degree in 1988.

He found himself working the front desk at a Holiday Inn in Fort Washington outside of Philadelphia while he applied for jobs.

"I had gone on interviews but couldn't find a job in the field and I found myself as the front-desk supervisor," he said. "I knew I wouldn't be doing that for the rest of my life, but I needed the income."

During that time, he applied for a position with the Uniformed Division of the Secret Service which also works outside of the White House. After an 18-month interview and vetting process, he was hired in August 1990 as a federal law-enforcement officer, which did not include guarding the president directly.

"Most people when they heard Secret Service, they assumed I was this big-time special agent working around the president, but I started off as a uniformed officer," said Wilson, who also served as a trained sniper during his career.

Prior to his transition to special agent in 1996, Wilson was warned by his superiors of the downsides to the gig, especially as it related to his personal life.

"Basically I lost all of my old friends because you miss homecomings, parties, weddings, and after a while you drift away from old circles," he said.

However, Wilson credits his college sweetheart Devonne for holding down the household, which includes three teenage girls, in the midst of his high-demand career that virtually has no days off.

"I have been blessed with three good girls and a ride-or-die wife that held down the fort when I was not able to be there, even coordinating moves for the family mostly by herself," he said. "Birthdays, athletic events, holidays, and even summer vacations, I was not able to be there because of the job."

The sacrifice and commitment was rewarded with an accelerated pace of advancement through the ranks, according to Wilson.

"Sometimes people are there for 10 years before they are pulled into a protective assignment," said Wilson, who had to undergo special driving training to transport his boss. "Fortunately for me, I only did about 5 1/2 years in the field before being pulled into work under a presidential protective division for then-President George W. Bush. Once you ride in the elevator with the president a few times and start to see him every day, it gets kind of mundane and the excitement goes away."

And then there are times when a dull and uneventful day at work turns into a hilarious moment that President Obama loves to remember.

"The president reminds me all of the time about when we were on a golf course and I felt something crawling on my leg," he recalled. "He was about to tee off and he noticed me out the corner of his eye doing a little happy dance and he said, 'What's wrong with you?' I informed him that I had just been stung by a bee. He walks over to me and says, 'Well what are you going to do now?' You know you have to pull your pants down and get it. And I say I'm not pulling my pants down on this golf course and he insisted but then another agent came and relieved me so that I could go and handle that. He laughs about it sometimes when I see him and says, 'You handled that bee sting with grace.' "

There have been other light and funny moments during his tenure like when comedian Jerry Seinfeld visited the White House to tape a segment for his show 'Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.' The segment opened with Seinfeld hopping out of his car and walking up to a window and knocking on it to get the president's attention. In an outtake for that moment, Obama looks up at Wilson who is off camera and says, "Harry don't shoot him. He's a very funny guy we all like him. My poll numbers would go down if you did harm to Jerry Seinfeld."

The speed and agility needed to foil domestic terror plots and jog alongside limousines came courtesy of Wilson's participation in sports through the Oak Lane Youth Association.

In retrospect, he had no choice as his father, Harry Wilson Sr., 79, is one of the founding coaches of the youth sports organization that has been a staple in the Philadelphia community since 1971.

"One thing for sure is that me and my wife have been blessed to see the world through his eyes," said Wilson Sr. of his namesake. "We have been everywhere right with him because he has always told us what he has seen and how different countries and cultures are. But we are really relieved to see him moving on because he did it for more than 25 years and now it's time."

For the next chapter of his professional career, the ball is literally in Wilson's court. He recently accepted a position from NBA Entertainment to be the Director of Global Events Security for major events such as NBA playoffs, the All-Star Game and U.S. Olympic basketball.

"The funny part is I'm not that big of a basketball fan. I'm more of a football fan so this works out even better because I don't want to be at a game and worried about the score," he said. "As a professional I wouldn't be awestruck by the players anyway because we are used to being around politicians and celebrities so it's basically second nature to us."

According to Wilson, the high-profile figures he encountered could sometimes be a distraction on the job even when they meant no real harm.

"The president goes to a lot of events where there are celebrities and I am on duty and they try to draw you into conversation because they forget you are working," he said. "There have been times when you want to shake hands and have a more in-depth conversation but that's kind of a no-no. But I can recall being on duty and seeing Muhammad Ali and walking right past him. If I had the chance again I would have shaken his hand."

Although Wilson is moving on to what could be a very rewarding and fulfilling job with the NBA, there are quite a few obvious perks from working at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue that he will miss.

"Turning in my badge after 26 years means I had to give up my diplomatic passport and I'm going to really miss not having to go through security screenings at airports," he said. "And of course, the food on Air Force One is great."

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