William Henry Gillespie

The Gillespie family would be surprised to know that the headquarters of the Atlantic Refining Company at 260 South Broad Street in Philadelphia is now a 22-story luxury apartment building. William (known by all as Bill) worked as a clerk there a dozen years or more, and it’s where his father, Henry Gillespie, was employed for two dozen years before becoming Chief Clerk.

There was another son, Henry Jr., born in 1915, and three daughters followed by 1922. They lived just south of Oregon Avenue in South Philly near Marconi Plaza. Bill continued to live at home as a single adult until he was nearly 30, as did each of the girls until they were around 40.

He registered for the draft in October of 1940, but less than six months later his father died of cancer. Bill remained as a clerk at Atlantic for another 12 months until he was drafted in 1942. 

They might not have considered him to be the typical size for a soldier, recording his height at only 5’5” and weighing 121 pounds. However, he may have been an ideal size to fit into an M7 “self-propelled artillery vehicle,” or tank. Whether he did is not known, but the M7 was part of his unit, the 902nd Field Artillery Battalion, which was part of the Sixth Army in the Southwest Pacific Theater of Operations.

The motto of the 902nd was “Avauncez et Archez Bien,” which means “Advance and Shoot Well.” That’s what they did as they followed General Douglas MacArthur, who made a ceremonial landing on the island of Leyte in the Philippines on October 20, 1944. 

Fulfilling his “I shall return” promise, this famous photo made all the papers. Sergeant Gillespie’s name made it into just one newspaper, the Philadelphia Inquirer, after he was awarded the Bronze Star for his part in the liberation of Leyte.

The 902nd pushed on as the Allied Forces made their advance toward Japan, with the Battle of Iwo Jima and then Okinawa. Bill lost his life while fighting there on May 20, 1945. He was remembered again in the Inquirer on May 20, 1946 when his family placed this memorial in the Classified section.

His remains came home to be reburied, and a military headstone was placed over his grave beside his father. Later the family plot would include his mother, his brother Henry, and Henry’s wife and son.