(triumphant music) (plane engine roaring) - Well, I graduated from high school in 1944, and almost all of the classmates, even the gals, we all knew we were going in the service.

So many, many of the guys enlisted in the Navy.

Cause if you got drafted, you would be just a marching soldier.

And seven of my lady, girl, classmates went to a nursing school in Mitchell, South Dakota, and they all became RNs.

- [Interviewer] Hm.

- Yeah.

But it was through the, through the drafter.

Yeah.

I was a mechanic on a B17 bomber.

- [Interviewer] Wow.

- Yeah.

- [Interviewer] Where were you stationed?

- Well, all over, but the last place I was stationed was Kadena Airfield In Okinawa.

Yeah.

- [Interviewer] How about the most memorable day of your service?

- I think on the trip, after I came overseas, from San Francisco, or from, we took a troop train all the way to Fort Sheridan, Illinois.

And we had a real good party that whole, going across country.

We got on this troop train and we had a fella who was a porter, and he said the first place we will be stopping is Elko, Nevada.

And he said, there's a liquor place right within walking distance of where this train will stop.

But he said, rather than all of you pile out there, get like four guys from your car to go.

And they can bring the liquor back, and, which we did.

And then we had a party the rest of the way, all the way to Chicago.

(interviewer chuckles) - [Interviewer] That was the most memorable thing?

- That was it.

Well, we knew we were close to getting out.

- [Interviewer] Ah.

- That was gonna be our discharge center.

(plane engine roaring) When I flew from Tachikawa Air Base in Japan, down to Okinawa, when we approached Hiroshima, it came over the PA system that we're approaching there.

And the pilot was gonna circle it three times at ground level so we could see the damage.

This was in February of '46 and the bomb had been dropped in August of '45.

And it was complete destruction.

There wasn't a living soul there.

Yeah.

- [Interviewer] And how far was there nothing?

- [William] Oh, probably seven or eight mile radius.

Totally stripped.

- [Interviewer] And what was life like for you after the war?

- Well, right away I got a job.

On-the-job training with the GI Bill.

And it was a two-year program, and 40 years later I was at the same job.

Same building for 42 years.

I sold farm equipment.

Yeah.

Very lucrative.

Did well.

Not bragging, but I did well.

The only flight I had was from Tachikawa Air Base in Japan, down to Okinawa to Kadena Air Field.

- [Interviewer] Yeah?

And what was that mission?

What was, why were you flying there?

- I was just going, that was gonna be my final base, was Kadena.

- [Interviewer] Gotcha.

How does it feel to be back in the era today?

- Oh, nice.

I've been here before doing air shows, and I've been to this place many, many times.

I just live 12 miles from here.

- [Interviewer] Yeah.

- Yeah.

- [Interviewer] So it feels, does it feel like, are some memories coming back to you just seeing some things?

And seeing the planes?

- Not too much.

- [Interviewer] Not too much?

- No.

Nope.

I want to see if I can get my daughter here on that B25.

- [Interviewer] Oh, there you go.

(chuckles) - [William] I've flown on it twice before, so.

- [Interviewer] What's that like?

- [William] Oh, fun.

- [Interviewer] Yeah?

- [William] Noisy, but fun.

(plane engine roars) - [Interviewer] So with all of your experience in life, what advice would you give to the youth of today?

- The youth?

- [Interviewer] To the young kids of today.

- I think it would be good if they all served in the military for a couple of years.

Right outta high school.

It'd be a really good thing for them.

And they do that all over the world up here.

- [Interviewer] So what do think the military gives them?

- Discipline.

Discipline.

Which we know we got a lack of.

- [Interviewer] Yeah.

True.

So what would you, what advice would you offer to a young person who's enlisted in the military?

What advice would you give them about being in the military?

- Well, really, it's a great career, if they want to make it their career.

Twenty years, you have a real good retirement.

And then they'll still be young.

They can retire at 38 or 39 years old.

- [Interviewer] Yeah.

- Yep.

They can use the knowledge that they got in the service to, off the, on the world market.

(triumphant music)