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MEMORIAL ARTICLE
Published Assembly Jan '91
William Welcome LaMar No. 15861 Class
of 1946 Died 27 January 1947, age 21 years, near Carlsbad,
California. Internment: Walworth Cemetery, Walworth, Wisconsin |
WILLIAM WELCOME (BILL) LAMAR was born 15 October
1925 in St. Louis, Missouri. When Bill was growing up, his father
had two jobs, one in advertising in Chicago's north shore suburbs
and one as minister of the Fontana Community Church. Fontana
was a small town on Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, and Bill spent weekends
and summers at Fontana and the rest of the time in Evanston.
He graduated from Haven Junior High in Evanston, but he always
claimed Fontana as his home and the people of Fontana considered
him to be one of their own.
There was on Lake Geneva a military prep school
for 100-150 boys, Northwestern Military and Naval Academy. It
was run by a Scotchman who gave scholarships to 4-8 boys to play
in a kilted Scottish bagpipe band. Bill and his older brother
Burris both learned to play the bagpipes especially to
take advantage of this opportunity, and they spent their four
years of
high school there. Burris went on to Annapolis where
he graduated in June 1944 (Class of 1945). Bill had always
been an excellent swimmer, sweeping first place in all age groups
at the annual Lake Geneva Swim, and worked as a lifeguard his
last two years at Fontana. Bill's other athletic abilities
came to the fore during his later years at high school.
He was a starter on the varsity football and basketball teams
his junior and senior years. He was on the track team in
the shot put and discus. Bill was a cadet officer during
his senior year of prep school, but spent a good part of the
year demoted to private for playing practical jokes on his fellow
students. At that time, full-time ROTC military schools
were inspected and graded yearly by the Army and those
found qualified were designated honor schools. Honor schools
were allotted a certain number of appointments to West Point
and Annapolis, and Bill went to West
Point as an honor school appointee.
After spending four years at a military school.
Bill had no trouble adjusting to life as a West Point cadet.
Quick mentally, he had no trouble with academics either, but
did not strive to get really good grades. His forte was
athletics. Although light for a tackle, Bill was a member
of the famous Army football teams of 1944 and 1945. He
was a sprinter on the swim team; his swimming coach told Bill
that if he gave up football and concentrated on swimming the
coach would guarantee him a national championship, but Bill enjoyed
football too much to give it up. His athletic skills weren't
limited to specific varsity sports. Bill attained the highest
ranking in physical proficiency in the class. Graduation
saw Bill go into the Army Air Corps, getting his wings and his
lieutenant's bars.
Bill was first assigned to Williams Field, Arizona for
fighter training and Ajo, Arizona for gunnery. As time
for Bill to graduate from Williams Field approached, Robin Olds
(Class of June 1943) flew over from March Field in an F-80 to
see Bill. Robin had gotten to know Bill back at the Academy
when Bill was on the football team. Robin was able to get
Bill and several other classmates assigned to the 12th Reconnaissance
Squadron at March Field, California. The 12th Reconnaissance
Squadron was the first unit to receive the new- F-80 jets.
Robin was the operations officer of the 12th. He recalls
that Bill was a good "stick" and was picked as one
of the replacement pilots Robin was going to concentrate on to
how to become a part of the first jet formation acrobatic team.
Robin formed this team the summer of 1946 and had been showing
off America's newest machines all across the land.
Bill's last letter home, posted 24 January 1947,
told of his recent return from three weeks in Miami where he
and fellow pilots had participated in three air shows.
Bill was a natural pilot and loved flying, and he loved flying
jets better than-anything else in the world. 0n 27 January 1947,
Bill took off on a routine local transition flight. About
30 min after takeoff, Bill's plane crashed about two miles east
of Carlsbad, California. Bill was killed instantly. One
of Bill's roommates and a fellow pilot in the I2th Recon Squadron,
Marshall Jones, accompanied Bill's body back to Wisconsin.
His funeral was conducted by his father at the Fontana Community
Church, where his father had been minister for 30 years.
The church dedicated memorial chimes in memory of Bill.
Bill was survived by his father, mother and brother.
William Welcome Lamar died doing what he loved.
Bill was a gregarious, warm, fun- loving person. He believe
in clean living and did not smoke or drink, but he loved a good
party. One attribute recalled by his friends was his willingness
to help others. Robin Olds recalls that Bill was a fine
young lieutenant -- bright-eyed, eager and fun-loving.
The older
pilots in the unit liked him immensely and were pleased
to have him in the squadron. Probably Bill's outstanding
characteristic was his competence in practical matters.
He had an uncanny ability to solve practical problems, to get
things done that needed doing, and he was at his best in an emergency.
Had he lived, there is no doubt Bill would have gone far in the
Air Force and would have made a tremendous contribution to his
country.
Bill Lamar joined "The Long Gray Line" just
seven short months after graduation. His memory lives on
in the hearts of his family, friends and classmates.
'46 Memorial
Article Project and his mother and brother.
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