WILLIAM M. YEAGER, LCDR, USN
William Yeager '42
Lucky Bag
From the 1942 Lucky Bag:
WILLIAM MARTIN YEAGER
Alexandria, Louisiana
Willie
When we met Willie we all knew that the "best" didn't always come from the home state. He is truly a genius at making friends. His ready humor and good nature have carried and will continue to carry him through many a trying moment. His name does not appear at the top of the academic list, but when the last count is taken you can bet he'll have a prominent place.
P.P.O.
The Class of 1942 graduated on December 19, 1941, less than two weeks after the United States entered World War II. The class had previously been scheduled to graduate in February 1942.
WILLIAM MARTIN YEAGER
Alexandria, Louisiana
Willie
When we met Willie we all knew that the "best" didn't always come from the home state. He is truly a genius at making friends. His ready humor and good nature have carried and will continue to carry him through many a trying moment. His name does not appear at the top of the academic list, but when the last count is taken you can bet he'll have a prominent place.
P.P.O.
The Class of 1942 graduated on December 19, 1941, less than two weeks after the United States entered World War II. The class had previously been scheduled to graduate in February 1942.
Loss
William was lost on March 10, 1954 "in a plane crash in Newark, California." He was survived by his wife, Betsy, and their three children. (Information from May 1954 issue of Shipmate.) He was flying a "twin-engine plane from the carrier Yorktown;" the other pilot aboard was also lost. (Quoted portion from newspaper.com link that is now broken.)
He is listed on the In Memoriam page of the USS Yorktown (CVA 10) WestPac Cruise Book 1953-54. Unable to determine which squadron he was a member of. The ship had returned from deployment the week before, on March 3rd.
Other Information
From researcher Kathy Franz:
William graduated from Bolton High school in 1936 and attended Louisiana Tech for one year. During World War II, he was on sea duty in the Pacific Theater.
In June 1946, he was stationed at the Naval Air Base in Corpus Christi. In 1947-1948, he was in Pensacola, then Norfolk, Virginia, and then at the Atlantic City Air Base. In December 1950, he was at Quonset Point Naval Station in Rhode Island.
William had just returned from a tour of duty in Korea when his plane crashed into a mountain near San Jose, California. He was assigned to the carrier USS Yorktown and was on a training flight.
He was survived by his widow Betsy, sons William, Jr., Daniel and Bruce; and daughter Betsy. His parents were Mr. & Mrs. C. Scott Yeager; two brothers Capt. John M. Yeager and C. Scott, Jr.; and one sister, Mrs. W. P. Burleigh.
One of his sons, William Martin Yeager, Jr., was engaged to be married in 1967.
He is buried in Louisiana. His wife passed away in 2002 and is buried near him.
Photographs
From the Lucky Bag
From The Town Talk on March 11, 1954
The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.
