World War II Honoree

William Urban Griffith, Jr.

Branch of Service

U.S. Army Air Force

Hometown

Houston, Texas

Honored By

Thomas and Louise Griffith, and family

Relationship

Thomas and Louise Griffith, and family

Enlisted in the Army as soon as they would let him (due to family situation), and he took his oath in January, 1943 and went to Ft. Sam Houston for Basic. He was a civilian HAM radio operator for about 10 yrs so being a radioman of one kind or another was his plan. He went to the USAAF's St. Petersburg Training Center, then Camp Crowder then Camp Pinedale. He picked up several MOSs, with the final one, "Intercept Operator-J (739)" being the most advanced of the lot. He was put into the 8th AAF Radio Squadron Mobile at Pinedale and shipped out for the Marianas in late '44, arriving on Guam in the 2nd week of November. He was officially in the 20th AF, 73rd Bomb Wing, 499th Bomb Group, 878th Bomb Squadron. Most of his operational time was ground based, intercepting and decoding Japanese Katakana code (with the help of Nisei (Japanese Americans serving in the US military on more complex Japanese language), but he did fly in several B-24 missions, but not long range ones, serving as the radioman on the aircraft. He left Guam in late October, 1945 and headed back home to the US and was discharged just before the end of 1945.