Beasley, William, Interview with (2014-02-28)
Rating
Title
Beasley , William , Interview with (2014-02-28)
Creator
Texas A&M University-Commerce
Subject
World War, 1939-1945 United States. Army. Air Corps. Prisoners of war, Germany Prisoners of war--United States
Description
First Lieutenant William C . Beasley , born in Georgetown , Mississippi , on December 28 , 1922 , enlisted in the military in December 1942 . After minimal primary training at Sheppard Air Field in Wichita Falls , Texas , Beasley spent four months at Texas A&M University in the College Training Detachment which provided the academic foundation necessary for the various members of flight crews . Like many young men joining the Army Air Corps , Beasley wanted to be a pilot but was too tense on the controls and his limited education at A&M was insufficient . Beasley then classified for navigation training in San Antonio , completed pre-flight navigation at Ellington Field in Houston , advanced training in San Marcos , and finally joined his crew at Gowen Field in Boise , Idaho . They finally received their B-24 in Topeka , Kansas . Three days before the Normandy invasion , Beasley and his crew arrived in Hethel , England where he was stationed throughout his time in Europe . Although Beasley and his crew did not fly missions in support of the invasion , they did fly support missions into St . Lo . On September 5 , 1944—during Beasley's 17th mission—their B-24 encountered heavy anti-aircraft fire for a second time and were forced to bail out. Eight of the 12 crew members survived and, once on the ground , fell into enemy hands and became POWs at Stalag Luft I . By the end of April 1945 , after roughly nine months in the camp , the Germans guards fled the camp to avoid capture by the advancing Red Army . By Mother's Day , Beasley and his compatriots were liberated and on their way to Camp Lucky Strike for rehabilitation before making their way back to the United States . Beasley arrived home in mid-June 1945 via Boston , and met his soon-to-be-wife Sarah thanks to a friend of his father's . The two married November 15 , 1945 , and attended East Texas Baptist College together . Beasley felt as though his life had been spared for a reason and went into the ministry as a means of helping others , eventually ending up in Bonham , Texas , as the chaplain at the VA hospital .
Date
2014-02-28
Publisher
N/A
Publisher of Collection
Texas A&M University-Commerce
Contributors
William Beasley ; East Texas War and Memory Project
Interviewer
Hayley Hasik & Jackson Dailey
Type
Moving Image
File Format
mp4
Duration
01:19:12
OH #
1084.1
Rights
All rights to materials within this collection are held by respective holding institutions or individuals with the exception of public domain items. The materials contained within this collection are made available online for educational and/or personal research purposes only.
CONTENTdm file name
4168.mp4
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