Battle of the Bulge Survivor Still Making Music

Use controls above or click here to open this Hometown Heroes podcast in a new window
99-year-old Bill Glaspie of Bakersfield, CA appears on episode #799 of Hometown Heroes, airing August 19-24, 2023. A native of eastern Arizona and the sixth of twelve children, Bill was one of four brothers to serve in American armed forces during World War II.

Bill Glaspie during World War II.

“We had three covered wagons,” you’ll hear him recall of his family’s nomadic ranching travels in his childhood, sometimes covering then miles a day. “Them old wagon spokes would dry out. We’d come to a river we’d have to take those wheels off and soak ’em good.”

That rural life, and the need to help support his family, especially after his father passed away when Bill was 14, resulted in his school days being curtailed after the seventh grade. In 1941, the family’s home in Avondale, AZ burned down. His mother was urged to send some of her children away, but she was determined to keep the family together. The World War II service of four Glaspie boys helped provide money to care for their siblings. Bill deployed to Europe with the 468th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion.

“I was a cannoneer, and our role was to keep the German planes out of the air,” he says of his duty aboard M15 and M16 halftracks. “They sent ’em up, and we were supposed to bring ’em down.”

An M15 halftrack during the Battle of the Bulge.

Landing at Omaha Beach in August, 1944, the 468th participated in five campaigns: Normandy, Northern France, Ardennes, Rhineland, and Central Europe. You’ll hear about Glaspie’s first taste of action against the enemy, and who happened to be in the first aircraft they shot down, and you’ll hear about some of the close calls he endured before, during, and after his days in combat.

“I’ve been in some pretty tight spots, but I never got a scratch on me anywhere,” you’ll hear the Bronze Star recipient reflect. “I lay that to my mama’s prayers. I had a praying mama and I know she prayed for me every night.”

Glaspie insists the infamously cold winter that provided the backdrop for the Battle of the Bulge didn’t effect him all that much, but there were some moments that captured his attention. He witnessed first hand what can happen when a halftrack runs over a mine, and endured a battle in which German tanks killed nine American infantrymen nearby. His battalion was attached to a field artillery unit at the time, and it proved to be the scene of his closest call.

99-year-old Bill Glaspie (photo by Arnold Martinez)

“My foxhole was about two-and-a-half, almost three feet deep, and I set my boots up on the top,” you’ll hear this 99-year-old explain. “The next morning my boots was just riddled with shrapnel, all through the top of my boots, so thank God I wasn’t in my boots at that time!”

Glaspie’s unit was part of General George S. Patton’s Third Army, and you’ll hear his favorite anecdote about the legendary leader, something he witnessed first hand. You’ll also hear some more recent memories, from his journey to the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. with Honor Flight Kern County.

One of his most colorful memories circles around his voyage home from overseas service in World War II, complete with a banana boat that was dead in the water for two days, tossed to and fro from giant Atlantic Ocean swells. After two years, ten months, and ten days in the Army, he was discharged at Fort Bliss, TX, and made his way home for an unforgettable reunion.

“She stood there with her arms wide open, tears going down her cheeks,” he says of his widowed mother whose prayers Bill credits for bringing him home. “It was just a homecoming to remember.”

As he approaches his 100th birthday, Bill continues to work on a skill he’s been working on since 1935: playing the guitar. Most weekends, you can find him playing his electric guitar or his dobro in church. He was kind enough to give us a taste:

—Paul Loeffler