I got to speak several times on the phone with Billy Southworth's daughter who last I heard still lived in the Southworth home in Ohio. Every time I spoke to hear she GLOWED about her older brother Billy Southworth Jr.
He lived a crazy and eventful life packed into a few short years of adulthood, he was signed to be a mega movie star, played pro baseball, and wore his fathers baseball cap while flying to block the sun, a practice soon imitated by all other pilots of the era.
I have a single signed ball from Billy Junior that is one of my prized possessions despite not being that "valuable" since he never made the major leagues.
A sad and tragic story of loss during WW2 but one that is worth reading up on if you have the time!
Rhys Yeakley
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