William Carl Beasley was born on December 28, 1922, in Mississippi. He enlisted in the Air Force in 1942 and took his training for his flight crew on a B-24 bomber. He was commissioned to service on March 18, 1944. His World War II combat assignment began in June 1944 with the 389th Bomb Group stationed at Hethel, England. His crew had 16 successful missions into enemy territory, however on the morning He was flying his 17th mission into Germany his plane was disabled by anti-aircraft on September 5, 1944, and he and his crew were forced to abandon the plane by parachute over Karlsruhe. He became, at that point a prisoner of war in Barth, Germany on Sept 5 and remained until May 14, 1945, when his camp Stalaag Luft 1 of 10,000 was liberated by Russian forces. He received the Purple Heart and Air Force medal with three oak leaf clusters meaning he received the medal three times and the Prisoner of War medal from President Harry S Truman.
After military discharge, Bill would meet the love of his life Sadie Norman on a trip to a small Mississippi town 45 miles from his hometown to thank a local physician who had provided care packages to him while overseas in the prison camp. Sadie was working there as he arrived it was love at first as Bill and Sadie would tell it and three months later, they were married.
You will find him giving credit to his service to our country with what he defines as a successful life after the war ended, confirming the critical statement "for God and country" and how powerful that influence can be to a young man or woman. Brother Bill attended East Texas Baptist University in Marshall, Texas. While there, he was voted most likely to Succeed and served as President of his Senior class. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from East Texas Baptist University and a Bachelor of Divinity from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1953.
Brother Bill would serve as pastor of 8 churches over his ministry including Victory Baptist Church in Gilmer, Hepsibah Baptist Church in Leesburg, Texas, Newsome Baptist (Newsome, TX; New Hope Baptist Church, First Baptist Church Mart Texas, Emmanuel Baptist Church College Station, First Baptist Church Pittsburg, and First Baptist Church Bonham Texas. He served many churches post-retirement as an interim pastor helping them navigate through the process of finding their next pastor.
Brother Bill served as the minister of the First Baptist Church in Bonham, Texas from 1972-1988. He devoted his life not only to serving that church family but became known as "the community pastor" due to his love, willingness, and devotion throughout the years to stand by and support families of this county in times of joy and tragedy.
He found himself at the end of his career starting a new chapter and served as Chaplain at the Sam Rayburn Memorial Veteran's Center from 1988-2000. He felt as though God had allowed him to come full circle in ministering to veterans.
Most recently, he has had the privilege of writing a weekly column for the Fannin County Leader entitled, "From My Life to Yours" in its sixth year. It would be a new way to reach out to the community he held so dear. He was very grateful to the Fannin County Leader for the opportunity and to the citizens for their support and interest.
He has completed a book of his memoirs of his prisoner of war experiences and his ministry in which the people of Fannin County play such a big part. It is entitled "From My Life to Yours…My Story, Our Story, His Story."
Bill was a member of the Kiwanis Club and was honored by them for 50 years of service to that organization. Bill also held the office of Chaplain of the Military Order of Purple Hearts Chapter 612 in Grayson County. He was a part of many special ceremonies such as dedicating the Purple Heart Highway in Texas, a proud recipient of the HG Dulaney Award given by the Friends of Sam Rayburn in 2013, and receiving the 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award by the Bonham Chamber of Commerce.
Source of information: www.findagrave.com, francecrashes39-45.net, www.americanairmuseum.com