William Stewart is 88 years old. He was born in April 1929 in Glendale, California. He has one brother. His father worked for the Pacific Telephone Company in Los Angeles [Annotator’s Note: Los Angeles, California]. He got the job during the Depression [Annotator's Note: Great Depression; a global economic depression that lasted through the 1930s]. His father also worked as a cowboy. They lived on a ranch and trained quarter horses. Stewart met his wife after he came home from the service. She rode horses for his father. Stewart went to college using 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]. He was a boy scout [Annotator’s Note: The Boy Scouts of America; youth organization in the United States]. He became an air scout after the war started [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. They would go down where the P-38s [Annotator's Note: Lockheed P-38 Lightening fighter aircraft] were built. They would go spot planes and call them in. He was technically part of the Air Force at 12 years old. He joined the service at 17 years old.

William Stewart was sent to Camp Beale in California [Annotator’s Note: near Marysville, California]. He got his first haircut and uniform there. They took a troop train to Texas for boot camp. The train broke down in the middle of the desert. They had to send another train to tow them into the town. Stewart went to auto mechanic school in Denver [Annotator’s Note: Denver, Colorado]. He was sent to California for overseas processing. He boarded a troop ship. All the guys were getting sick. He volunteered to be the librarian. The library was on the main deck. He stayed up there for the rest of the trip. They were on the ship for 30 days. They stopped in Honolulu [Annotator’s Note: Honolulu, Hawaii] and Okinawa [Annotator’s Note: Okinawa, Japan] before reaching their destination in Manila [Annotator’s Note: Manila, the Philippines]. They were not needed in Manila. so they were then sent to Guam [Annotator's Note: Guam, Mariana Islands]. He worked as an auto mechanic. He went to the education officer and asked if there was a way he could go to a technical school. He was eligible for any tech school in the Pacific, and he picked radar school in Japan. It was 36 weeks long. It was run by the 8th Army Signal School. When he finished the course, he wanted to stay in Japan. He then took a ground radar course. After he graduated, he was sent back to an air base on Guam. He was made a sergeant as a radar mechanic. He returned home in December 1948.

William Stewart was sent to Washington state to work on the radar in flying box cars. He made corporal as an auto mechanic. His job was to keep the beacon working on the ground. They worked with 200-pound sacks of sand on the parachutes. They would kick them out of the airplane in the woods. Whoever won the inspection would get a three-day pass [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time]. Stewart made sure his uniform did not have any wrinkles and he won the three-day pass several times. He saved up three of the passes and took a nine-day leave. He got out of the service in 1949. He heard about the Flying Tigers [Annotator's Note: the First American Volunteer Group of the Republic of China Air Force composed of American airmen and ground crew]. He signed up for flight training. He wanted to be a flight tech. He was going to school when the Korean War started [Annotator's Note: Korean War, 25 June 1950 to 27 July 1953]. He had joined the reserves when he got out as a radar man. He got his brother in the reserve unit as an Air Policeman. He was called up to go to Korea. They started building an airbase just south of Casablanca [Annotator’s Note: Casablanca, Morocco]. They had to set up a repair facility for radar. Stewart decided he wanted to get his passport so he could travel. He made staff sergeant and was able to have his car. He was considered surplus and was able to go home six months early.

William Stewart was set to get discharged. He was considered surplus and could get out six months early. They fought him over it when he was home. It took him a month to get his discharge. During World War Two the military was still segregated. During the Korean War [Annotator's Note: Korean War, 25 June 1950 to 27 July 1953], they were all together. He was on 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 to go back, he would have to repeat courses. He could not repeat courses and keep the G.I. Bill. He became a hospital business expert. He got married, then he moved and started developing homes. He fell in love with boats and sailing. In 1962, he left the hospital and went to the space electronic division before going into the real estate business. He is a retired CPA [Annotator’s Note: certified public accountant], but he is still working. He is an active real estate broker and property manager. His final rank was a staff sergeant.

William Stewart wore fatigues with big pockets. He would keep pocketbooks and would read while he waited in lines. He had fun being an auto mechanic. He thought being a radar mechanic was a lot of fun. He thinks he got radiation poisoning from the radar. He sat in front of a radar every day. He has been interviewed by kids in middle school. He thinks every kid should join the service after high school. He is working hard to preserve military history by rounding up as many veterans as he can. He has guys from World War Two, the Korean War [Annotator's Note: Korean War, 25 June 1950 to 27 July 1953], and the Vietnam War [Annotator's Note: Vietnam War, or Second Indochina War, 1 November 1955 to 30 April 1975]. He thinks it is important for kids to learn about the war. The WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana] is wonderful.