WILLIAM BROWN TERRELL, JR., was born in Gastonia, NC. He moved with his parents to Elon College, NC, where he attended Elon College schools, graduating from high school in 1943. He entered North Carolina State College Raleigh, where he studied aeronautical engineering for two years and was a member of the ROTC.

Bill grew up around aviation. Four of his uncles were pilots who built airplanes and operated their own flying field near the family homestead. Bill's lifetime ambition was to fly, and his first step in that direction was a congressional appointment to West Point.
Bill adapted quickly to life at West Point. The caption in the 49 Howitzer reminds us that he was "as Southern as a Confederate flag ... a disposition daunted only by these Yankee winters." He enjoyed athletics, including Sunday morning basketball games, intramural tennis, swimming, and skiing. He found time for other extracurricular activities as well, including both the Pointer and Howitzer staffs. Bill's all-around ability was reflected in his military and academic rank. During his First Class year, he held the rank of cadet lieutenant and, on Graduation Day, stood 69th in his class of 574.

In August 1949, Bill entered basic pilot training at Perrin AFB in Sherman, TX, where he met JoAnn Ruth, who would later become his wife. One of Bill's classmates was Bill Armstrong, whose home was in nearby Garland, TX. Armstrong knew JoAnn, who also lived in Garland, and arranged a blind date for Bill while they were on leave before starting basic pilot training. Bill and JoAnn married in Garland in July 1951.

After completing advanced pilot training at Williams AFB, AZ, Bill was transferred in rapid succession to pilot instructor training at Craig AFB, AL; then to instructor duty at James Connally AFB, TX; to the All Weather Jet Instrument School at Tyndall AFB, FL; and then to Moody AFB, GA, where he continued as an instructor until April 1953. At that time, Bill decided to return to the world of academics, entering the graduate nuclear engineering program at theAir Force Institute of Technology at Wnght Patterson AFB, OH, graduating in 1955.

Bill was then assigned as a physicist to the 1009th Special Weapons Squadron at the Western Field Office, McClellan AFB, CA, including a three-year sojourn to an operating location at Eielson AFB, AK.  Bill had the responsibility of flying T 33 jet aircraft equipped for the high altitude collection of radioactive debris. He also performed the laboratory analysis of those samples. Both those duties carried with them the risk of exposure to radioactive materials.

In August 1960, he returned to the classroom, this time at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, and, two years later, emerged with a Master of Science degree in aeronautical and astronautical engineering.

For the next four years, Bill served in the Air Force Office of Scientific Research in Washington, DC, and, later, in the European Office of Aerospace Research in Brussels, Belgium, where he reached the position of Chief of Engineering Sciences Division. In Belgium, his commander recalled Bill's "technical performance, his ability to think logically and soundly, and his extreme success in working with others."

He returned to the States in 1968 for specialized training before beginning a month-long ferry flight of an EC- 47Q aircraft from New Hampshire to Tan Son Nhut Air Base, Republic of Viet Nam. In Viet Nam, he was a pilot and, later, operations officer of the 360th Tactical Electronics Warfare Squadron. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, as well as ocher combat decorations, for air action in southeast Asia.

Bill's next assignment brought him into the field of ballistic missiles. In 1969, he became Systems Engineering Program Manager with the San Antonio Air Material Area, with responsibility for all engineering activities on the re-entry vehicles for the Minuteman and Titan missiles. In 1971, he was promoted to colonel and transferred to the Aerospace Guidance and Meteorology Center, Newark AFS, OH, where he was vice-commander.

When Bill retired in July 1973 as a colonel, he held the aeronautical rating of command pilot. In civilian life, he continued his association with flying in San Antonio by training students to be aircraft mechanics. He later moved to Bryan, TX, where he worked in the oil and gas drilling business. In 1986, he retired from his civilian career and settled in Dublin, TX.

In February 1992, Bill was diagnosed with leukemia and spent the next several months being treated at  M. D. Anderson Hospital in Houston. He returned home to Dublin, where he spent the last three weeks of his life.

To his family, he was "an example to us as one who sought to live a life pleasing to God. It was in this way that he urged us to the same kind of life-not through sermons but by a living example. Filled with integrity, loyalty, and a strong sense of responsibility, he held himself accountable for his actions. Bill did not like to be dependent on others, but in independence he still had a servant's heart, and it seemed to give him great joy when he was able to serve and help others. Bill also was an example of courage. In his military career, he served with honesty and courage in difficult and dangerous assignments. In his family, he faced his responsibilities with courage and perseverance. In his sickness, he courageously endured pain, and to the end was concerned about how others would be affected."

A former commander remembers Bill's "wide ranging knowledge, his extreme success in working with others, and his likeable personality A classmate recalls his "strong sense of duty and committment to serve not only his country but also those around him.' His life confirmed the words of his classmates in the 49 Howitzer that described Bill as "versatile, personable, of pleasant disposition, sincere and conscientious as flew are--the sort of guy you seldom find, and never forget once you've known him."