November 1943 to November 1944 fighter escort on P-47's and P-51's. P-51 Instructor at Goxhill AFB, England for 3 months after completing 83 missions. Also served in Korea. RaMissing in Action (MIA)nes in service until retirement in 1963.



DFC w/ Oak Leaf Cluster/ AM w/ 3 Oak Leaf Cluster/ ETO w/ 3 battle stars



Billy heeded his nation’s call. He had dreamed his whole young life of being a military pilot and so was ecstatic when he was accepted into the Aviation Cadet Program of the Army Air Corps (the U.S. Air Force had not yet been established as a separate branch of the military). He received his cherished “Silver Wings” after graduating from Advanced Flight Training and was commissioned into the officer corps as a fighter pilot. Assigned to the 361st Fighter Group of the 8th Air Force, Billy saw combat duty in Europe, flying 83 combat missions in P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs. In seven months, he logged just over 300 combat hours–more hours than any other U.S. fighter pilot at that time. He had participated in three major air battles, including flying three separate missions on D-Day alone. He flew on the first and second of the legendary “one thousand plane” raids, and on three of the raids to Berlin (7-8 hours of flying in a small cockpit at high altitude, on oxygen, and under continuous stress). In recognition of his service, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross two times and the Air Medal three times along with various other medals. Seventy-one years later, the French government inducted him into the French Legion of Honor in recognition of his role helping to free France from Nazi domination.



After the war, Billy tried his hand at civilian life but he soon realized that he was born to be an aviator so he re-enlisted in the Army Air Corps and transitioned to the Air Force when it was formed in September 1947. He spent the next 17-odd years in the Air Force—he was a noted instructor in instrument flying as well as in flying in all kinds of weather conditions and was one of the Air Force’s first jet instructors. Additionally, he flew atomic-capable jets in the Far East during the Korean conflict and along the U.S.-Canadian border during the Cold War, and later served as an operations officer on the DEW line, watching for Soviet bombers that may try to attack the U.S. by coming in over Canada.