It’s not easy to condense 98 years of a life into a 15-minute speech, or a 20-minute interview. You can’t, actually. But it’s certainly enough time to know why Bill Figley means so much to his community.
The U.S. Navy signalman shared some of his military experiences at the West Liberty Veterans Day Recognition Wednesday, Nov. 6. As one of the night’s guest speakers, Bill talked about his role during World War II, then explained why the holiday matters.
Three months before he graduated from Glouster High School in 1944, Bill joined the Navy. Though he tried the Army first, “they didn’t want me,” he admitted.
“They made every attempt to find a place for me in the Navy,” he said. Eventually, they made him a signalman. He was assigned to a landing ship medium or LSM, which would pull up onto a beach. Once there, they’d drop off items like troops, guns, ammunition, food, tanks, small trucks and Jeeps.
After training, Bill found himself sailing from San Francisco to Pearl Harbor one “very cold Easter morning.” The base had been rebuilt a little bit after being decimated during the surprise attack on Dec. 7, 1941. From there, Bill’s signal ship headed toward the Pacific Theater to fight against the Japanese.
During their commission, the ship endured two typhoons, one that lasted three days, four nights and another that went four days, three nights.
“It felt like the bottom was coming out of the ship, but it never did,” Bill said.
Eventually they arrived at Okinawa, which was supposed to be secured and free from harm. It was anything but. Japanese bombers flew overhead several times a night for three weeks, sometimes dropping bombs.
But Bill and his team never stopped working. He estimated they hauled as much as $3 million worth of equipment. Besides the weather, the men dealt with the imminent threat of enemy ships, submarines and airplanes.
“We were always in danger from the challenges we faced,” Bill stated matter-of-factly.
About a year and a half after Bill entered service, on May 8, 1945, Germany surrendered, ending the war in Europe. Japan would sign formal surrender documents almost four months later on Sept. 2, 1945.
With the war over, Bill returned home … but home had changed. While he was in service, his parents moved from Glouster to West Liberty.
Bill went to college and studied pharmacy, earning his degree from Ohio Northern University in Ada. He then served as a West Liberty pharmacist for over 30 years.
During that time, he also married and had a family. Bill’s wife, Sharyn, was the daughter of a lawyer who, according to Bill, was suspicious of everyone in the service.
“He didn’t want her marrying a rough and rowdy sailor,” Bill said, chuckling. “Well, she married a rough and rowdy sailor and had six rough and rowdy kids!”
Those six kids led to 21 grandchildren and 45 great-grandchildren. His daughter Chris lives the closest, with son Tracy not too far away in Xenia. One son died young due to pancreatic cancer. Bill’s other children live in Virginia and Florida. Sharyn passed away in 2007.
But Bill’s story wouldn’t be complete without talking about his love of music. After leaving the pharmacy business, Bill became a professional musician for the next 30 years. He still plays the piano and keyboard whenever he gets the chance.
Bill, who will turn 99 on June 30, 2025, recalled a fond memory: “On my ninety-fourth birthday, we had an outdoor patriotic concert out of my home with 65 people there. [The story] took up a third of the front page of the paper.”
Playing mostly from memory, Bill claimed it would take weeks to go through his repertoire of over 1,200 songs. Though he loves folk music, his favorite melody is “Stardust” from the 1940s.
Of course he can read music, but, he added, “I haven’t read the bass clef of a song for 50 years.”
West Liberty has been a “good community” for Bill, and the village thanked him for his service by hanging his military banner at the corner of Runkle Street and Route 68.
As he concluded his speech Wednesday night, Bill spoke on behalf of veterans. He told the small crowd all they really want is to return to the old ways, where “all men are created equal.” Individual liberty, he insisted, comes from Bible passages like Matthew 7:12 and Luke 6:21.
“Close your eyes,” Bill said, “and try to imagine a flaming torch with an American flag beside it. That is the torch of liberty. We must bear it high like a beacon until others take it from us.”
Then he lifted his hand in a salute and called, “Ten-hut!”
