An Island WW II vet remembered

As Veterans Day 2020 ceremonies became another casualty of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, with events canceled, it won’t stop the families of veterans remembering and honoring those they love who served.

One combat veteran of World War II, who will be especially remembered today, Nov. 11, is William “Bill” Dickerson, who passed away last month at the age of 97.

A harelegger and life-long resident of the Island, Mr. Dickerson was part of the invasion of Normandy. Serving in General George Patton’s 3rd Army, he fought in several major battles of the war in Europe, including the Battle of the Bulge. Wounded in action, he received a Purple Heart. The State of New York, France and the United States Congress have recognized his valor.

As Charity Robey wrote in a profile of Mr. Dickerson a few years ago, he came from a military family. His father served in World War I, as did two of his uncles. Many of his Shelter Island School classmates and three of his cousins served in World War II. Most made it back; some, like Mr. Dickerson, were wounded, but seven lost their lives. 

One of the things that made him extraordinary, Ms. Robey wrote, was “the clarity of his memory and the practical and straightforward way he relates events that traumatized and scarred so many who served.”

His daughter Lauren, who lived with him and cared for him over the last several years, said her father didn’t speak about his service much when she and her siblings were younger, but the last 10 years of his life he began to open up more about his experiences in the war.

Mr. Dickerson signed up in 1943 at the age of 19, going from working at Bohack’s general store on the Island, as Ms. Robey wrote, “slinging 100-pound bags of chicken feed” to being “in charge of shooting a 155-millimeter gun, a 15-ton behemoth” with a range of about 12 miles.

Lauren Dickerson said her father wasn’t much for celebrating Veterans Day, but was a regular participant in the Island’s Memorial Day Parade. He did like to have his favorite meal on Nov. 11, however. “Scullops,” Ms. Dickerson said, “which is the way he pronounced ‘scallops.’”

Another family member agreed that he began to relate his experiences in Europe much more as he grew older, especially the last six or seven months of his life. “He was very proud of his service and talked about it a lot,” the family member said.

He recalled Mr. Dickerson relating a story of how, after he had been in combat on numerous occasions, he watched a unit of “green” troops, fresh-faced, passing him “in brand new uniforms. He said he was sickened, watching them, because he knew that in just a little while a lot of them would be dead.”

Bill Dickerson will be remembered on Veterans Day today, and cherished by those who honor his service.