William Brooks 'Billy' Southworth Jr was son of Major League baseball player and manager Billy Southworth. Over three seasons from 1938-1940 Southworth enjoyed a successful career as an international league baseball player and was in 1939 honoured as Most Valuable Player (MVP) for the Rome Colonels.



In 1940, Southworth expressed a desire to join the Army Air Corps, but delayed doing so until the end of the baseball season at the request of his father. Southworth eventually enlisted in December 1940 and underwent pilot training, earning his wings as a bomber pilot in August 1941.



In February 1942 Southworth was assigned to the newly formed 303rd Bomb Group at Pendleton field and departed for England in October 1942. Southworth flew his first combat mission on 18 November 1942, on the group's second combat mission against u-boat pens at St Nazaire.



Southworth was known to forgo his flying helmet in favour of a Cardinals baseball cap gifted to him by his father (who managed the team at the time), allegedly because its visor provided better shade from the sun than his flying helmet and was more comfortable to wear with earphones. He completed his tour of 25 missions on 17 July 1943, and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, for succeeding to complete his tour without injury to any member of his crew.



Southworth returned to the US in January 1944, choosing to remain in the US Army Air Force, rather than pursue his baseball career. He was promoted to major and assigned to the Second Air Force, eventually becoming an instructor on B-29 Superfortresses at Grand Island Army Air Field in Nebraska in late 1944.



On 15 February 1945, Southworth was killed on a training flight from Mitchell Field to Florida, when his B-29 ran into engine troubles and he attempted an emergency landing at La Guardia field, where he overshot the runway and crashed into Flushing Bay. Despite rescue attempts supported by his father, Southworth's remains were not recovered until they washed ashore in August 1945. In 1946, Rome Colonels erected a plaque in his memory at their stadium.