Military Service
 
Bill joined the army in WWII at the age of 18, and went to England where he was given a job in charge of Ordinance. He and his buddy volunteered for combat duty hoping to get the same outfit, but his buddy was quickly wounded and sent home.
 

"I volunteered for military service one year and two days after Pearl Harbor.  It took that long to get parental consent since I was so young.  Went to Jackson Mississippi to volunteer for the Air Force because I wanted to be a fighter pilot more than anything else at that point in my life.  I was doing fine until I was asked for two letters of recommendation which I did not know I needed.  Since I did not have them I was told if I signed up in the Army I could transfer to the Air Force when I was called up for active duty .   That was my first encounter with military honesty and justice. 
 
Signing up for "Duration plus six months" created an unusual situation. When I had enough points to get a discharge when the war ended  they could not give it to me until after the "plus six months."  I was given a Certificate of Service in November of 1945 but  no discharge, and here it is now fifty eight years later and I still have not received it.  I tried to check on it years ago and finally just gave up.  
(Could have some back pay somewhere in all of that.)
 
I  received a sergeant's rating when I was nineteen years old.  
 
Served a short while in the Quartermaster, then the Ordinance, and was in England for a year before the invasion.  Went through two campaigns with the Second Infantry Division, 9th. Regiment, serving as an infantry scout.  I prize highest my combat infantry badge.    That was really what I signed up for- to fight for my country."
 
While touring Europe with the US Infantry 2nd Division he got to ride on the top of tanks, sitting behind the driver's hatch. The German army at the time would string wire across the roads at the right time to decapitate someone riding as Bill liked to do, and one such wire knocked off his helmet, narrowly missing his throat.
 

 

Being able to see historic places in Europe was one of the few good things about being in the army.