Page 68 - Lubbock Senior Link Magazine Fall 2019- Online Magazine
P. 68
William B. Boyles
“Straight into Combat”
by Larry A. Williams
Veterans Liasion Co-Chair
Texas South Plains Honor Flight
assignment. I was sent
to the Mariana Islands
and assigned to the USS
Cleveland.” The Cleveland
was the first ship built in
the Cleveland class of light
cruisers. She was built by
New York Shipbuilding in
New Jersey and launched
November 1, 1941. The
Cleveland joined a task force
off Bermuda in December
1942 and headed for North
Africa where her firepower
supported landings at
Fedhala, French Morocco.
She then headed for the
Pacific and joined in attacks
on numerous islands before
Boyles came aboard. He
noted that he “went straight
into combat.”
f it had been up to his bought some land south “I had to learn how to
mother Lillie Mae, of Sudan when Bill was a shoot 5” anti-aircraft guns.
IWilliam Boyles middle young boy, and he still lives This was late in the war,
name would have been there to this day. and the Japanese were
Beauchamp. His father getting desperate. We
Henry countered, “That Bill grew up helping on had the Kamikaze planes
name is much too long for the farm and attended come over. They came in
a little baby. Let’s just call Sudan High School where so low over us that my
him William B. Boyles.” he graduated in 1944. He hair stood up. Ships were
And that’s what it has was drafted on February hit all around us, but we
remained for 93-year-old 15, 1944 and chose the never had one hole in
Bill Boyles. The middle Navy; his brother had our ship. We were lucky.
child of six children, Bill already joined that branch. I was assigned to radar
had one brother and four He was sent to the Naval work tracking enemy ship
sisters. He was born on Base in San Diego for movements. It seemed like
October 19, 1945 in Hall basic training, then he we would get out of one
County, Texas close to was shipped to Hawaii scrape, lose another ship
Quitaque, but his father where he “stayed for about and move on. This went on
a month waiting on an until the end of the war. We
68 Lubbock Senior Link
