At 15 years old in August 1941, four months before Pearl Harbor, Billy enlisted in the Marine Corps. Days from his 96th birthday, Billy now claims I didnt lie about my age, but that recruiter sure did! He deployed to Guadalcanal in August 1942 as a Radioman/Gunner in Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers engaging the enemy over the Solomon Islands in ship convoy cover, strafing in support of ground troops, and fire and dive bombing, and later in TBF Avenger torpedo bombers on anti-submarine patrols and glide bombing enemy ships, flying 100+/- combat missions at 16 and 17 years old. In 1943 he was assigned to California as a radioman/gunner instructor, but returned to action in 1945 at Peleliu, flying 50+/- TBF anti-submarine and enemy shipping patrol missions until the war ended. Billy was awarded the Air Medal with 3 clusters for extraordinary achievement and meritorious acts in aerial flight, WWII Victory Medal, Asiatic Pacific Medal, and American Campaign Medal. He joined the CA National Guard in 1948 and was deployed to Korea in 1950 as an Army Infantry and Communications Officer where he devised methods to improve radio communication and keep communication lines from being cut at night by the enemy using a dummy round and bazooka to fire wire from the front line to the Command Post, for which he received the Bronze Star, Infantry Combat Badge and Korean Service Medal. Billy retrained and deployed to Vietnam as a helicopter pilot, flying 50+/- supply and medivac missions, and was awarded the Vietnam Service Medal. Billy resides in Orange. Having served our country from 1941 to 1967 in three wars, Billy is proof of why he and his American contemporaries are The Greatest Generation the world has ever known.
