By Lindsey Frazier, Features Editor
Tucked away in a cul-de-sac down the winding roads of Whorton Bend, Billy Crawford lives with his son, Ray, and daughter-in-law, Vickie, though he hasn’t lived there long — only about three years. The other 100 years of his life were spent in a multitude of places.
Born in Vincent, Crawford was the fourth of five children, with two brothers and two sisters. He grew up in a two-bedroom house in Fairfield: one room for his parents, one for his sisters and the living room floor for the three boys.
During the summers, his parents would drive him in their Model T Ford to the “country” to visit family in Harpersville, Shelby County, where his uncle promised him some “shiny new money” to help his cousins in the cotton fields, working for hours on end over several days.
“Finally, before I left to go home, he pitched a nickel at me,” Crawford said. “He said, ‘I told you I’d give you some shiny money.’”
Other than visiting family, he made kites from newspaper and sticks, mixing together flour and water for glue and using twine to bind them together, doing his best to stay out of trouble so he wouldn’t get switched by his mother — except for the occasional skinny dip in the creek near the railroad tracks close to his house, where he said he and his friends would moon the train conductors as they passed by.
All three Crawford boys would go on to serve in the armed forces: one stationed in Germany and one in the Pacific, while Crawford spent his years in the Naval Reserve as a merchant mariner during World War II. He transported cargo, guarded convoys from German U-boats and carried supplies to military forces.
Ray, Crawfords son, said when he was younger, his father told him about a mission he was on with his convoy, where they were separated from the group, putting them in a very dangerous situation that left the men on edge until they were back with their group.
Coming from a small town in Alabama, he said the experience in the Navy Reserve was “eye-opening” compared to what he had heard on the radio or seen on television.
Most of his time was spent in the Mediterranean Sea, supplying troops in Northern Africa and southern Italy and traveling to and from Argentina to pick up and deliver goods. He also spent time in Cape Town, South Africa, as well as Iraq and Iran.
Around the time the war was ending, he left the reserves but was drafted back into service. In one day, Ray said, his father was in the Army, Navy and Marines.
“When he got drafted, at the reception station, they had a group going to be in the Army,” Ray said. “Then they found out he had a Naval Reserve background in Merchant Marines, and they said they needed some to go to the Navy, so they took him out of the Army group and put him in the Navy group.”
From there, officials decided they needed some Marines, so they selected him and several of his friends to join the Marine Corps. He was then stationed in China for a year.
During his time in the service, he experienced sleeping in both extreme heat and extreme cold. One summer, he said he worked in the engine room of a Naval ship that ran on steam, where it was too hot for him to sleep. He moved his sleeping bag to a flooded area of the ship that was slightly cooler. He only had warm water to drink on those nights.
While stationed at Beijing, China, he slept in a room with no heat, sandwiched between mattresses to keep warm.
After returning home in the fall of 1946, he married Lillie Bell, and the couple raised two sons together. Crawford returned to his job at U.S. Steel and continued working there for 30 years before retiring.
Lillie Bell and Crawford were married for 63 years until her death in 2009. A year later, at 87, he remarried Deloris Holcomb, becoming stepfather to one boy and two girls. They remained married for 13 years until her death in 2024.
After her death, Crawford moved from his home in Centre to the house in Whorton Bend with Ray and Vickie at the age of 100.
Despite the cold nights and close calls, Crawford laughed when he talked about memories of his time in the armed forces. He learned life lessons and saw the world through a lens he never would have.
“You can have a good life in [the service],” Crawford said. “But you have to have enough sense to stay away from anything that would be harmful to you.”
He credits his long life to living a Christian lifestyle and staying away from tobacco and alcohol. Pierce Williams, a friend and fellow church member, said that, despite his age, Crawford stands every Sunday during prayers to show his love to the Lord.
“I’m not ashamed of anything I’ve ever done,” Crawford said. “I’m not saying I was perfect. I did things that young boys do. Some of them would dare you to do this or that.”
Crawford still enjoys the water, though his days of skinny-dipping and mooning train conductors are over. He lives a much quieter life now on the shores of the Coosa River, sitting in the sun, bundled up, watching the ducks and enjoying the peace.
