Bill is a 94 year old member of our Quiet Warriors chapter of the Korean War Veterans Assn.
He recently lost his wife who was also in the military. Anna was also 94 and our chapter did full honors for her on her passing.
Bill doesn't talk much about his service to our country. I knew he served in all three wars but that was it. The following was news to me.
He was interviewed today by our local paper, The News Sentinel" What an incredible story.
Wayne, solo1
World War II veteran also served during Korean, Vietnam wars
By KAYLEEN REUSSER of The News-Sentinel
Monday, April 20, 2015 - 11:56 am
Willis Colburn had begun a degree at Cornell University in agriculture in fall 1939 when he was drafted into the US Army Air Corps, which later became the U.S. Air Force. Two uncles had served in World War I, so 21-year-old Colburn, a New York native, willingly prepared for military service. His plans were to put in his required time, then return to Cornell to finish his degree.
Colburn, now 94, had no idea his military service would extend beyond World War II to other wars and service at the Pentagon.
Colburn completed basic training at Miami Beach Training Center in Florida. “Our units did guard duty at night on the beach, looking for German subs,” he said. “They were sinking our ships along the coasts.”
Afterward, Colburn was sent to radio operator school at Sioux Falls, S.D., and later he completed one year of radar school at Boca Raton in Fla. He trained at gunnery school near Fort Myers, possibly Buckingham Army Airfield, and Keesler Army Airfield (today it is called Keesler Air Force Base) in Biloxi, Miss.
Colburn was asked to stay in the US as an instructor of air and sea rescues, but he declined. By now, it was 1944 and he was anxious to get overseas. “I wanted to go where the action was,” he said.
Colburn and other troops disembarked from the East Coast, possibly from Savannah, Ga., but he's not sure. “That's been 70 years ago now, so it's hard to remember,” he said. He recalls that troops were issued fleece-lined jackets, but warm clothing was not needed as they landed at Australia before moving on to Clark Field in the Philippines.
A heavy battle was happening on Japan's Okinawa Island. Colburn's unit joined the Allied fighting there, which began in April and lasted through June 1945. Colburn had plenty of opportunity to use his gunnery skills as the planes he flew in strafed the island and the Japanese soldiers below.
During one flight, four Japanese “Betty” bombers came alongside his plane. Colburn, standing at a gun turret inside the plane, thought that was the end of his life and those of his crew. For some reason the planes didn't attack, and Colburn's plane got safely away.
Another time Colburn's flight crew landed at Ie Shima, a tiny island off the northwest coast of Okinawa. Ernie Pyle, a Hoosier and beloved American newspaper military correspondent, was killed there by a Japanese sniper on April 18, 1945.
The Battle of Okinawa is considered one of the bloodiest in the Pacific. Estimates place the Allied had 65,000 casualties, with 14,000 dead, while 77,000 Japanese soldiers died. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki caused Japan to surrender less than two months later.
After the war ended, Colburn, along with hundreds of other American troops, stayed in Japan during the Allied occupation period. In early 1947 he was discharged and returned to Cornell University where he enlisted in advanced ROTC.
Colburn married in 1947 and over the next couple of years he and his wife, Anna, had two children. Not content with civilian life, he obtained a commission and re-enlisted in the Air Force (The military branch's name changed in 1947). “I missed the military,” he said.
In late 1951 2nd Lt. Colburn was deployed to Korea. Stationed north of the 38th parallel (Demilitarized Zone), his duties focused on radar. “The 8th Army gave us coordinates to target for precision night bombing,” he said. “The Army also supplied a security platoon so our unit was not fired on.”
When the United Nations and armies of China and Korea declared a cease-fire in July 1953, Colburn was discharged. He found employment with the state of New York but again desiring military life, he returned to active duty.
This time Colburn was sent to Arlington, Va., where his duties were with the National Military Command Center at the Pentagon. “I was flight duty officer and later officer in charge of the command center,” he said. He also was stationed at Joint Base Andrews (then Andrews Air Force Base) in Maryland. During this time, Colburn was promoted to captain.
In 2009 Andrews Air Force Base and Naval Air Facility Washington merged to form Joint Base Andrews.
Colburn completed squadron officer school at Maxwell Air Force Base at Montgomery, Ala., in 1957 before returning to Okinawa for three months. Later, he served with the Air Force Security Service at San Antonio.
In 1964 Colburn was sent to Vietnam as part of the cryptography unit for the Air Force. “My duties included talking in codes that were hopefully too difficult for the enemy to crack,” he said. It didn't bother Colburn being sent overseas for involvement in yet another war. “It felt good being there because I was trying to help,” he added.
Finally, in 1966, after 25 years of combined military service, Maj. Colburn was discharged. He returned to his family in San Antonio and began looking for a job. After spotting an ad in the Air Force Times magazine for the General Telephone Co. in Fort Wayne, he was hired in 1967. He moved his wife and six children to Fort Wayne and retired in 1983.
The Colburns' four sons chose to enlist in the Army and Air Force. “I didn't try to talk them into or out of joining the military,” said Willis. One son, George, is buried at Arlington Cemetery. A grandson is a member of the Indiana Air Guard at Fort Wayne International Airport. Anna died in October.
After serving his country in the military for so many years, Colburn's thoughts remain positive. “I felt if we maintained a strong military presence in parts of the world, it would deter dictators,” he said. “We wanted to make it better for future soldiers.”
Bluffton author Kayleen Reusser published the book “World War II Legacies:
A picture of Bill and Anna taken a the chapter's meeting.
