Willis "Bill" Beasley was born in Denver, Colorado, on 13 April 1922. He was named after his father, Bill Sr, who was a fireman and a WWI veteran. His mother, Gail L Eckhart, was a homemaker. 

Bill enlisted in the Army during October 1942 and was assigned to the Army Air Force. He completed his basic training at San Antonio, Texas, during the early part of 1943. Then we went to El Reno, Oklahoma, for primary flight school and gunnery school. Upon completion in December he was sent to Salt Lake City where men were assigned to combat crews. He was assigned to the Joe L Harris Crew. Harris was already an experienced pilot with the rank of 1st Lt.

With his new crew, they traveled by train to Biggs Field at El Paso, Texas, for Combat Crew Training. Upon completion they were transferred to the new 492nd Bomb Group at Alamogordo, New Mexico.

Bill was credited with seventeen combat missions.  His seventeenth mission proved to be his roughest. This was Bill's second time to Politz and he knew it was going to be tough. Along the way to target the group was attacked by ME-109s, 210s, 410s and JU 88s. From his tailgun position he saw the 856th BS get completely destroyed. At target his plane was pelted by flak causing them to lose two engines. His pilots were able to take their crippled ship across the Baltic to Sweden. A Swedish fighter found them and escorted them to Malmo. The landing was tough too. They had lost all hydraulic pressure and the gear wouldn't come down. Plus they had two flat tires. Harris proved his skills as he tail-landed his plane into the dirt runway. Everyone walked away.

Bill was a POW in Sweden but it turned out to be more like going to heaven. They were put up in a resort and given a lot of freedom to roam the country and meet its people. His unplanned vacation came to an end on 1 November 1944 when they were smuggled out by air to Wales (Operation Sonnie).

Once back in the UK, Bill was immediately sent home where he soon married his sweetheart Norma on the day after Christmas 1944. Still in the Army, he was served at Santa Monica, California, then in Kingman, Arizona, and then at Pueblo, Colorado, where he was discharged in October 1945.

Bill passed away in his sleep on 22 February 2009. His remains are at the cemetery at Fort Logan, Colorado. He was survived by his wife Norma, their three sons (and wives) and six grandchildren.