William Morris Paulk was born in Vernon, Texas in 1924. He grew up there with two brothers and one twin sister. In the Great Depression [Annotator's Note: The Great Depression, a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1945], his family picked and pulled cotton from sunup to sundown. His sister rode on his mother's cotton sack while the rest of the family picked. His father raised a large garden and kept chickens which supplied the family with food. Every other day, Paulk would walk a mile or so to the home of a German family who raised dairy cows to get milk for the family. In 1936, Paulk and his older brothers hitchhiked to Dallas [Annotator's Note: Dallas, Texas] to celebrate the centennial of Texas Independence. One of his brothers joined the Navy and spent 20 years serving on submarines, The other brother joined the Army Air Force in 1938 and became a pilot. He saw combat over North Africa and Italy and was credited with shooting down seven enemy aircraft. When Paulk came of age, he wanted to join the Navy and become a pilot. He hitchhiked to Dallas to take the Navy physical exams. He was unable to pass the eye test and was denied entry. Paulk was persistent and kept going back to try and pass the test without any luck. Because his two other brothers were serving overseas, Paulk's his mother kept him from joining until he was drafted. Paulk was then inducted to the Army Air Corps and sent to St. Louis, Missouri for basic training. He lived in tents there. Paulk took tests and qualified for the cadet training program [Annotator's Note: aviation cadet training]. He was married soon after and went to Wichita Falls, Texas to await transport to cadet training school at Denver University [Annotator's Note: University of Denver, Denver, Colorado]. While in Denver, Paulk learned to fly in a Piper Cub [Annotator's Note: Piper J-3 Cub observation aircraft]. He was trained to fly by a WASP [Annotator's Note: Women Airforce Service Pilots; civilian women pilots' organization]. When not flying, Paulk was learning to read aerial and topographic maps. He stayed in Denver for two or three months. After flight school, Paulk attended gunnery school in Las Vegas, Nevada. He participated in target practice with a 50-caliber machine gun [Annotator's Note: Browning ANM2 .50 caliber machine gun] on board a B-17 [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber] using colored bullets, so the instructors could evaluate them. He also shot skeets with rifles. From Las Vegas, Paulk went to Carlsbad, New Mexico for bombardier/navigator school for three months. The discipline during this period of his training was very strict. They drilled often and had to keep their uniforms clean, and shoes polished. He was trained to operate the Norden bombsight [Annotator's Note: Norden Mk. XV tachometric bombsight] while in a makeshift plane inside a large hangar before taking to the skies. Upon his graduation from bombardier school, Paulk was discharged as an enlisted man and commissioned as a flight officer.

William Morris Paulk was sent to Lake Charles, Louisiana to join his flight crew where he stayed for two months. On 31 October 1944, Paulk was ordered to New York and flown to Scotland on board a commercial flight before traveling to Stone, England. Ten days after his arrival, the rest of his flight crew arrived with the B-26 [Annotator's Note: Martin B-26 Marauder medium bomber] they would soon take into combat. They were assigned to the 553rd Bombardment Squad [Annotator's Note: 553rd Bombardment Squadron], 386th Bombardment Group, 9th Air Force. Sometime in November, the crew, minus Paulk, was sent to an airfield just outside of Paris [Annotator's Note: Paris, France]. Paulk arrived at the airfield on 15 December 1944. The winter weather was awful, as a result, the 553rd was often grounded for days at a time. A secret mission was being designed that would send 500 aircraft from the 386th Bomb Group to bomb 50 targets deep in the German homeland. The targets consisted of rail stations, marshaling yards, and other transportation centers being used to funnel German troops east to confront the rapidly advancing Red Army [Annotator's Note: Russian, or Soviet, Army]. The bombardiers were able to choose the target for their crew. He chose a marshaling yard because he felt these were the most crucial to German troop movement. On 5 January 1945, Paulk and the B-26 crew flew into Germany under heavy anti-aircraft fire and took many hits from flak [Annotator's Note: antiaircraft artillery fire] but managed to make a direct hit on their target. On their way back to the airfield, they were forced to fly low to avoid two ME-262s [Annotator's Note: German Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter aircraft]. Because of the flak, they were forced to make an emergency landing at the recently captured air base in Saint Trond, Belgium [Annotator's Note: Sint-Truiden, Belgium; Saint Trond is the French spelling]. Paulk saw dozens of P-47s [Annotator's Note: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighter aircraft] on the ground at the base. The base had been undamaged when the Germans who built it were forced to retreat. Ten days after the emergency landing, the crew of the B-26 left their plane behind and headed back to France having flown only one mission aboard the plane. In France, the crew was split up as they were reassigned to A-26 [Annotator's Note: Douglas A-26 Invader light bomber and ground attack aircraft] crews. Paulk liked this plane more than B-26 because of its larger size and heavier bomb load. With the conversion to the A-26 and the phasing out of the B-26, there was a surplus of bombardiers. Having only a few missions under his belt, he was asked to give up some so that other pilots would have enough to go home. Paulk obliged. Not long after this, the Germans surrendered. Paulk had three missions to his name (the first aboard the B-26, another over a separate marshaling yard, and one involving dropping incendiary bombs on an oil storage facility). They soon began training to fight in the Pacific. Paulk was in France until October 1945 without much to do. He often visited museums and did some sightseeing around Paris. He boarded a ship to the United States and was sent to San Antonio [Annotator's Note: San Antonio, Texas] to await his discharge as a flight officer on 10 January 1946. He felt lucky to be alive and safe at home. His brothers returned home safely from their military services as well.

William Morris Paulk did not talk about his World War 2 service when he returned home. It was years before he related any war stories to anyone. He later decided to travel and write two books on his World War 2 experiences. He took advantage of the G.I. Bill [Annotator's Note: the G.I. Bill, or Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was enacted by the United States Congress to aid United States veterans of World War 2 in transitioning back to civilian life and included financial aid for education, mortgages, business starts and unemployment] and got his degree from Texas A&M [Annotator's Note: Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas] in 1950. His first mission as the first time he ever saw flak [Annotator's Note: antiaircraft artillery fire]. He did not know what it was until he asked his pilot. The pilot encouraged him to not be afraid and to do his job as he had in training. When they switched from a B-26 [Annotator's Note: Martin B-26 Marauder medium bomber] to an A-26 [Annotator's Note: Douglas A-26 Invader light bomber and ground attack aircraft], his crew was given liberty [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] to Paris, France. He enjoyed visiting the city. He is thankful for the bad weather he experienced because it kept him grounded and decreased the chances of being shot down. He was often bored because his missions were often cancelled due to the bad weather. Many bombardiers did not return from missions, and he always wondered what happened to them. On VE-Day [Annotator's Note: Victory in Europe Day, 8 May 1945], Paulk and the other airmen went into town to celebrate. He drank too much and had to be carried home by a couple of MPs [Annotator's Note: Military Police]. He was filled with joy that day. The United States had to win the war, or he would never have returned home. While he was in France, he did not see any German war prisoners. He often took the subway while in Paris, to visit museums and significant sights.

William Morris Paulk was relieved to return home and adjusted back to civilian life with ease. He wanted to go back to school. His most memorable experience of World War 2 was his first bombing mission. He chose to fight because he knew that he would be involved. He knew that America had to win or else we would suffer by the hands of the Germans and Japanese. He saw how the people of the nation pitched in to fight the enemy. Paulk knew he did not want to be in a trench and that is why he choice to join the Army Air Forces. The war changed his life because it made him more appreciative of his wife and family. He took out a 100,000-dollar insurance policy in case he got killed. He also got an education. He worked for oil companies after he graduated and was able to travel to Indonesia. He also worked for Boeing Aircraft. He later formed his own corporation. He retired from work at age 72 and bought a home in Tucson [Annotator's Note: Tucson, Arizona]. After his first wife died, he remarried. He enjoys playing golf and collecting antiques. He thinks that if people want to donate, they should give money to high schools so kids can take cadet classes. He believes that the soldier needs to be educated more. He hopes America does not forget about World War 2. He wants parents to give his books to their kids, so they can learn about the war. He believes there should be institutions like the National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana], and they should continue to teach World War 2 to future generations because it's an opportunity to the public to learn about World War 2.