Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutWilliam Jay Bailey, Brazos Valley Heroes One in a series of tributes to rnembers Greatest Generation" who served our country during World War II Several years ago there was a popular movie entitled "Around the World In 80 Days." William J. "Bill" Bailey of Bryan has gone around the world also. But it took him three years, four months and 16 days, all at the expense of the U.S. military. Bailey was born in Duncan, Okla., but was raised in EI Paso, where he graduated from Austin High in 1936. The depression was in full bloom at that time and jobs were very scare. "I talked my father into letting me go to California and enroll in aircraft school to learn to become a sheet metal mechanic. After that I worked at Boeing in Seattle building B-17 bombers and at Consolidated Aircraft in San Diego building B-24 bombers. At the time, I didn't think I would ever be flying in one of the planes I was helping build. "When the war started, one of my good friends was drafted. I was in what was called an 'essential job' and was not going to be drafted. But I felt bad about his leaving so I volunteered for the Anmy Airborne in 1942, becoming part of the 506th Parachute Regiment. I never have been a joiner: that is the only thing I ever joined. When I told my parents, my father said, 'Son, you just killed yourself.' There were sorne times that I thought he was going to be right. I received my basic training in Georgia and my parachute training at Ft. Benning, Ga. "After my training and qualifying at jump school, we did various training jumps around the country to prepare for the war. On my 12th jump I was hurt and had to have surgery. When I joined the Airborne Corps, I had joined with a friend frorn New Mexico named Armond Beachum. We went through all the training together and we hoped to stay together throughout the war. But when I got hurt, Armond and the 506th were sent to Europe two weeks later and I was left behind. "After being left behind, I decided to seek a transfer to the Army Air Corps. I was told that wasn't allowed but they finally did allow me to transfer. To transfer, I had to go from a sergeant to a PFC again. Because of rny airborne training, I was the most physically fit person in my training unit." Bailey became a nose gunner on a B-24 crew that was assembled in Nebraska and then sent to Casper, Wyo., for high-altitude, cold-weather training. to Egypt, to Abadan, Iran, and to India, where we refueled at each stop. We then flew over the 'hump,' the Himalayas, to Kung Ming, China, which was located at the base of the Himalayas. The Japanese had control of the rest of China. "We flew missions to drop mines in the Yatu River to disrupt Japanese shipping. We bombed harbors and any other target we could that was held by the Japanese. If we had any bombs left, we would drop them on the Japanese barracks in Hong Kong. We were hit several times but never seriously enough to cause us to not return from a mission. Most of our missions were flown at 400 feet so we could make sure we hit the target. "Near the end of the end of the war, we were sent back to India, from there to Australia, then to the Philippines and finally to Okinawa, where we were part of the buildup for the invasion of Japan. When the bomb was dropped the war soon came to an end. It probably saved most of our lives." With the war over, Bailey was sent back to Seattle in January 1946 and then by train back to EI Paso. He literally had been around the world. And he and the world would be changed forever. After the war, Bailey enrolled at the University of Texas, graduating with a pharmacy degree in 1952. He worked as a pharmacist for the next 50 years. He opened Bailey Pharmacy in Bryan in 1959 and closed it in March 2001. "While I was stationed at Kung Ming, we were under the command of General Luedecke. I never got to meet him until after he retired back here to A&M. He came into my pharmacy to have a prescription filled. It was my first opportunity to complain to my field commander about the bad food we had. His response was: 'Be glad you had food.' "I look back on the war years and I am amazed at how young we all were to fight such a war. Our pilot was only 20 years old, but he sure was a good one. I am thankful for all the years since that I have been able to enjoy, because my best friend Armond Beachum, who survived D-Day, was killed at the Battle of the Bulge at the age of 20. He has been my yardstick since. When I think about the problems associated now with my age and health, I remember Armond and the fact he only got to enjoy 20 years. It keeps me from complaining." "We had 100 crews in training at Casper with each crew Bill Bailey's name can be found on the Brazos Valley Veteran's consisting of 10 men each. We lost 10 crews...before our Memorial. For more information, to make a contribution, or training there was over. We were sent to Virginia for radar if you know a World War II veteran whose story needs to be training and then ordered to Kung Ming, China. We flew from told, contact the BWM at www.veteransmemorial.org or Bill New York to Bermuda, to the Azores Islands, to Casablanca, Young kin at (979) 260-7030. !h~u~~le World World War II veteran B.J. "Bill" Kling of COllege Station will be the guest on "Veterans of the Valley" Friday at 8:30 p.m. on KAMU- TV. ~.~- '~--. ., .'!. .~/) o;u~ ........ Veterans of the Valley, hosted by WTAW's Tom Turbiville, can be seen Fridays at 8:30 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays at 6:30 p.m.