Billy Ray Dial

Sonarman Third Class

Purple Heart

  Killed in Action 3 May 1945

The pain of a Gold Star Mother:

This "is a reminder, ever with us, of the sacrifices all our mothers made for us.  We fear that this Gold Star Mother no longer has any family to pray for her.  She (Lucille Dial, mother of Billy Rae) died in 1998 at the age of 90, after 15 years in a retirement home for the aged in Dinuba, California. Billy Rae Dial, a Soundman third class, was blown overboard by a snarling kamikaze that made a direct hit on his quad-40mm gun mount. He was never seen again." -L.Boles

“Mama” Dial, as she asked us to call her, was legally blind. When we visited her, I noticed a photo of Rae in her room. I asked her if I could borrow it long enough to have it copied for my scrapbook. She insisted that I keep it since she could no longer see it. After our first visit, we kept in touch by telephone and sent her a package each Christmas season until we learned of her passing. When we first talked, she was eager to know more about how Rae died and if he had suffered. " –W. Fowers