William Westly Yost

Not long after his birth, the family first moved to Gainesville, Texas, then San Antonio, Texas, and finally to Leesville, Louisiana, where they resided until early 1945.

As a student at Leesville High School, Bill gravitated to sports, particularly baseball, where he played third base on the Leesville Wampuscats Varsity Baseball team. At the age of seventeen, Bill lost his father, and he was forced to assume the responsibilities as head of the family, taking a job after school. His love of things mechanical surfaced, and he saved enough to purchase an Indian motorcycle, which was his pride and joy. His skills as a mechanic also led to his other hobby, dirt-track racing in old coupes.

At the outbreak of World War II, his family situation (lone surviving son) technically exempted him from military service, but he eventually convinced his mother to sign a waiver; he felt compelled to serve.

In what was seen by the locals as a sacrilegious move in the Army town of Leesville (near Fort Polk), Bill enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. It was that day that his life’s path was set.

Arriving at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, Bill endeavored to prove his worth to the Marines, and so he did. During this time, his mother moved to Houston, Texas, to take a position as a pediatric nurse. It was there, in Houston, that he stepped off of a train in downtown Houston following basic training in the spring of 1944, to present himself to his mother – as a new United States Marine.

Bill went on to serve in the Pacific theater, primarily in aviation units, most notably in VMF-323, the Death Rattlers, as a mechanic on F4U Corsairs, and also volunteering for a couple of missions as a replacement turret gunner in the TBM Avenger torpedo bomber. Corporal Yost separated from active duty following the war in May of 1946, and continued to serve, and advance as a Marine reservist in Houston, Texas.

In mid-1949 he met the Drum Majorette of Houston’s Jeff Davis High School, Elizabeth Marie Mallo. Bill was convinced that he had found “the one,” and they would marry in early spring of 1950.

Once again answering the call to active duty during the Korean War in late 1950, Sergeant Yost served in the 14th Infantry Battalion of the 4th Marines.

At the time of his separation from active duty in September of 1951, Bill had acquired the rank of Staff Sergeant, and was positioned to advance to the rank of Gunnery Sergeant, but at the request of his bride, who said that “two wars was enough,” he ended his service career, but never stopped being a Marine.

After 17 years, and becoming the father of two sons and settling in the fine little town of Deer Park, Texas, Bill was struck with tragedy when his wife, Sally, was killed by a drunk driver in 1968, she was only 34 years of age.

Bill committed to raising his two sons, James and William, Jr. by himself, and admonished them to keep their mother in mind in all that they did. A life-long Boy Scout, Bill was able to infuse his own version of the Marine spirit into every unit he led, as a Scoutmaster, as a counselor, and as a mentor to young men. His admonition to them was; “Serve your country before you serve yourself,” and many took that to heart and served in every branch of the United States armed forces.

In 1987 another challenge appeared, Bill was diagnosed with advanced colon cancer, and was forced to undergo radical surgery, which could have drastically restricted the life of most other men, but once again, he overcame the adversity and called upon his Marine spirit to endure. And so he did.

As an elder, William Yost, Sr., continued to inspire, both subtly, and of course, vocally whenever discussion ensued, and there was not a time when he wasn’t ready to proclaim his membership in the fellowship of Marines.

At his passing, on October 25, 2014, in Spring Valley, California, not far from the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, he was in many ways still that young Marine who stepped off of that train in downtown Houston, proud of the eagle, globe, and anchor that adorned his uniform, and filled with the spirit that would make him the man that he would become.

Bill is survived by his eldest son, James David Yost and his wife, Sary, of Spring Valley, California, his youngest son, Willliam W. Yost, Jr. and his wife, Donna, and his grand-daughter, Krysta Lynn Yost, of Deer Park, Texas.