William Parker Williams William Parker Williams was born in 1912, on November 10th. His birth place was Blandins Ville Illinois, but he grew up in Dubuque Iowa. As a young boy he was like any other kid, he helped in his father (William) in the local shoe store their family owned and played stickball with his friends for entertainment. William went to a small school and got fairly good grades. He was very close to his mother as a kid, but his father was distant and difficult to know. Williams’s dad was strict and was more concerned about his shoe business than his family. At the young age of 20, William got married to his long time sweetheart Sara Rebecca Reilly. William managed department stores in Chicago Illinois and Detroit Michigan. His wife also helped him with the stores. They were a very happy couple and there first son was born in 1937, 5 years after their marriage. They named him William the 2nd but called him Billy. William did not choose to join the war but instead he was drafted into service by the US government. When he was drafted he was living in Dubuque Iowa where he was working as a wholesale clothing salesman. World War II began for the United States in 1941, and he was drafted into the US Navy in November 1942. William says that his parents were not concerned about him going into the military, though his wife was extremely worried for him and their family. Though he knew he would miss his family going into the military, in a way he felt proud to serve his country and protect the land he loved. It was difficult to find good in days of war, but he was determined to make the best of it. After he was drafted he was stationed at Farragut Idaho before he was sent overseas to the South Pacific in the war against Japan. Farragut is just outside of Spokane Washington. Williams’s wife and his son went out and stayed in Spokane for two months in the summer of 1943 for the occasional from private William. They went out to Camp Farragut on Sundays and visited with him in a big recreation hall for the soldiers. And once in a while he traveled to Spokane to visit his wife and son. The hardest part for William was being away from his young family. He did make many new friends in the military though, including Roy, Ben, Ralf, and Harold. They did not stay close friends, but after the war he kept in touch with Harold trough letters about once every few weeks. The next year he was shipped overseas. He was a petty officer which is like being a sergeant in the army. He was on a water carrier which took fresh water to aircraft carriers. He saw some battle action and one time a Japanese suicide plane crashed into a ship right behind them. That was the scariest moment while being in the military. He spent time in New Guinea, Guadalcanal, and ended up being stationed in Japan after the atomic bomb caused the Japanese to surrender. While in the war William was lucky enough not to have any serious injuries. But he does clam that being homesick is the worst injury he could have possibly got. The war ended in 1945 and he was discharged in the spring of 1946. He was glad to be home and really didn't like to talk much about the war. William says it was a good experience to be able to serve for the navy but he was often times scared and lonely. He went back to work in Merchandizing and moved from Dubuque to North Dakota where he had his own store in Cavalier North Dakota. Williams second son (Parker) was born in 1947 after William came back from the war. William and his wife Sara operated a store in Cavalier until he died in 1958. My great grandmother (Sara also Williams wife) started a new store and operated it until she sold it in about 1982. My great grandfather Williams Parker Williams was a Veteran.