A centenarian looks back on his time serving in World War II.
In 1944, when Bill Dickerson was just 18, he was drafted into the US Army to serve during World War II. He saw combat in 1945 while with the 609th Field Artillery Battalion, 71st Infantry Division, serving in Europe and taking part in the invasion of Germany. He was discharged in 1946. Born and raised in Oklahoma, Bill moved to Bolivar in 2000 when his wife wanted to be close to her relatives, who owned a farm in that area. He turned 100 on February 24.
Q | WERE YOU SCARED WHEN YOUR DIVISION SAW BATTLE?
A | I don’t remember being scared much when I was in the service. Even when they were shelling on us every day, I don’t remember being scared. I might have been, but I don’t remember it. Also, being surrounded by other people who are in it with you, we were all together, and nobody wanted to show they were scared. That’s probably part of it.
Q | WHAT IS ONE MEMORABLE MOMENT FROM WHEN YOU SERVED?
A | Once, we moved into position in the middle of the night. The morning was real beautiful, peaceful—birds singing and everything. Then, the enemy started shelling right on top of us. They had us zeroed in. I jumped in my foxhole, and somebody who couldn’t make it to theirs jumped on top of me. I don’t remember it hurting me any, but neither of us had been hit. Those who did get hit were given Purple Hearts.
Q | DID YOU CONSIDER STAYING IN?
A | Pretty much everybody was drafted. I didn’t have a choice, but nobody wanted to be a ‘4F’ (a classification of people unfit for military service). After those two years in the war, they tried to get me to stay on, but I didn’t want to make the military my life. The first thing I wanted to do after the war was get a job, buy a house, get married, all that stuff.
Q | WHAT DO YOU THINK IS YOUR SECRET TO LIVING TO 100?
A | None of my relatives lived that long, so I don’t know. I do think about eating healthy, and I have done exercises, but not for too long a period of time.
Q | WHAT’S ONE THING YOU WISH YOU HAD IN LIFE?
A | I wish I had gone to college on the GI Bill, and I didn’t do it. It’s one of the big mistakes I’ve made that I have thought about since. I think I would have been better off. I would have studies electrical engineering. I was always good at math and stuff, so I thought I might have been good at that.
This article was originally printed in the March/April 2026 issue of Missouri Life.
