The Life of Bill McGinley
By Cody Berry
Back on the first of October, Mrs. Peggy Tull Roberson stopped by the Gann Museum to donate some newspaper clippings for our collection. The articles are about one of Saline County’s World War II veterans: the late William C. “Bill” McGinley. McGinley was not born here, he was born in Scott, Arkansas on August 21, 1922, to Connel and Lillie Tull McGinley.1 McGinley graduated from Bryant High School in 1941, and he joined the Army Air Corps a week later hoping to become an airplane mechanic, but he became a tail gunner instead.2
After joining the Army Air Corps, McGinley was sent to Jefferson Barracks in Missouri for training before he went to Alabama for cadet training. McGinley said he washed out of that and was sent to gunnery training in Denver, Colorado. Later while serving in Ohio, McGinley was assigned to a B-24 Bomber plane and sent to England where he was attached to the 392nd Bomb Group, 579th Bomb Squadron, 8th Air Force in September 1943.3
During his ninth mission, McGinley was flying on an old bomber plane called the “Sally Ann,” over German occupied Waterloo, Belgium on January 29, 1944. The squadron leader was legendary actor Jimmy Stewart.4 The “Sally Ann” wasn’t staying in formation and came under fire from German fighter planes. McGinley said that they ran out of ammo trying to fight back. The plane’s engine was knocked out. Their navigator and bombardier were killed so McGinley dodged enemy fire to rescue who he could and jumped out with them.5
After hitting the ground, McGinley hid his parachute in a nearby haystack. He then met a farmer who told him to lay on the ground to avoid detection by the Germans. Later, the farmer took McGinley and his men to a barn where he fed them. McGinley and his men stayed on that farm for a few days before they were moved to Brussels by the local underground to live with a Belgian family there for five months.6 McGinley learned European customs, dressed in regular clothes, and hid in plain sight to escape the Gestapo. All the while, his family back home never gave up hope that he would return even after receiving telegrams and life insurance money.7
Eventually, the German Army retreated and on September 5, 1944, McGinley met the English Army. He was reunited with the waist gunner that flew with him on the “Sally Ann.” McGinley was sent back to the United States where his family had been told that he had been killed. They lived with that for nine months. McGinley was discharged on August 22, 1945, at Camp Chaffee, Arkansas. McGinley worked for the National Life Insurance Company here for 27 years until he retired in 1975. McGinley married Sue Blackwell, and they had two children.8
McGinley’s heroic life ended in October 2015 when he was 93 years old. McGinley died after being struck by a vehicle while riding his golf cart across the street to visit his neighbor. McGinley succumbed to his injuries at Baptist Health Medical Center in Little Rock after he was flown there by Medflight.9 At the Gann Museum, we don’t have any of McGinley’s things in our current WWII display, but his name is on our Wall of Honor in the front room. I want to thank Peggy Tull Roberson for donating her clippings about the legendary Bill McGinley.
Citations:
1 Arnold Wright, My Country Called, 1993, p. 194-195.
2 Amanda Freudensprung, “Bill McGinley U.S. Army, World War II – Part I of II,” Saline Courier, Date Unknown. Newspaper clipping.
3 Arnold Wright, My Country Called, 1993, p. 194-195.
4 Arnold Wright, My Country Called, 1993, p. 194-195. Amanda Freudensprung, “Bill McGinley U.S. Army, World War II – Part I of II,” Saline Courier, Date Unknown. Newspaper clipping.
5 Amanda Freudensprung, “Bill McGinley U.S. Army, World War II – Part I of II,” Saline Courier, Date Unknown. Newspaper clipping.
6 Arnold Wright, My Country Called, 1993, p. 194-195
7 Amanda Freudensprung, “Bill McGinley U.S. Army, World War II – Part II of II,” Saline Courier, Date Unknown. Newspaper clipping.
8 Amanda Freudensprung, “Bill McGinley U.S. Army, World War II – Part I of II,” Saline Courier, Date Unknown. Newspaper clipping. Arnold Wright, My Country Called, 1993, p. 194-195.