Albany, Shackelford County
(Aug. 9, 1916 - Dec. 22, 1943) A graduate of Albany High School, William Edwin Dyess was an aviation and infantry commander in the Phillipines during World War II. Captured at the fall of Bataan in 1942, he survived the Death March and escaped his captors a year later. Back in the U.S., his published accounts of enemy actions toward prisoners of war greatly aided the war effort and influenced world opinion. In November 1943, he made an appearance at the Albany football field on his way to California, where he died in a plane crash just weeks later. Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene is named for the much-decorated war hero. Recorded - 2004