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C. H. and Caroline Yoe Foundation
HALL OF HONOR 2000
Maj. William [Bill] Graham Gillis, Jr.
YHS Class of 1935
1917-1944
Bill always went straight to the top wherever he landed. Football teams of Yoe High School, Schreiner Institute, and U.S. Military Academy at West Point elected him captain. He was also a superb track athlete and an honor student. During World War II, at the age of 26, he commanded the 1st Battalion, 320th Infantry in Gen. George S. Patton's Third Army in France. He led his men to break through the Nazi lines to capture Hill 317 at Mortain thereby freeing a surrounded U.S. battalion. This breakthrough stopped the enemy's counter attack. In 1945 defeated Nazi General Staff Officers admitted they lost the war when their counter attack at Mortain failed in 1944. Bill had led one of the great victories of World War II. On October 1, 1944, struck by an enemy mortar shell, he gave his life to preserve our freedom. Posthumously he and his unit received the honored Distinguished Unit Citation. A grateful nation also awarded him a Silver Star, Distinguished Service Cross, Bronze Star, and Purple Heart. France and Great Britain each gave him coveted medals. He was the fifth generation of his family to call Milam County his home. He is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Cameron. West Point remembered Bill again 45 years after his death in France. In 1989 the Academy memorialized his heroism, character, and athleticism by naming a vast indoor athletic facility Gillis Field House.
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Mission Statement