The Story of Lt. Billy Webb

The Story of Lt. Billy Webb. . Lt. Billy Webb was one of the countless thousands of our fallen servicemen and women who gave their lives for “our freedom.” , William “Billy” Webb was born and raised in Abingdon, VA and was the only son of Grant and Mary Gray Webb. As a teenager, Billy was a newspaper boy and could be seen early every morning, before school, riding his bicycle on the streets of Abingdon delivering the Bristol Herald Courier, rain or shine., Billy graduated from VPI (now Virginia Tech) and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army. Soon thereafter he was ordered to Vietnam., On June 5, 1966, after being in Vietnam for only about three weeks, Billy and a young sergeant, Sergeant Leuthold, were scouting an area to establish a “Base Camp” about 20 miles north of Saigon. Upon reaching the top of a small hill, then known as “Hill 23,” about the same size as the one where you now stand, he and the sergeant were ambushed. They were shot and then executed by the Viet Cong., Later, Billy's company established their headquarters at the foot of the hill where Billy had died. Billy's comrades, who did not want him to ever be forgotten, proudly erected a simple street sign naming the little dirt road running in front of the headquarters “Webb Avenue” in Billy's honor. On another nearby road they placed another sign honoring Sergeant Leuthold., After our troops had been withdrawn from Vietnam, the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong swept through the base and desecrated the signs and destroyed any recognition that Billy and Sgt. Leuthold were ever there, or had ever lived or died., Billy Webb was the only soldier from our area, of whom we are aware, who ever had a memorial erected in his honor on foreign soil, only to be later destroyed by the enemy., On June 2, 2003, Billy's story provided the inspiration for the Town of Abingdon to set aside and designate the ground on which you stand today as “Veterans Memorial Park” in honor of Billy and all our servicemen and women who have given their lives for our freedom., On September 2, 2003, the Town of Abingdon named the entrance road to the park “Lt. Billy Webb Avenue” in order to symbolically rectify the desecration of “Billy's Sign” and as a further symbol of respect, appreciation and honor of all the “Billys” and “Billie Jeans” of this nation who have given their lives for our liberty., When Mrs. Webb, a widow approaching her 91st birthday, learned from her daughter Sandra, about the town's actions in naming the street after her boy Billy, she bravely and compassionately stated: “But he's not the only one.” Sandra, who had captured the significance, symbolism and spirit of the Town's action, gave her heartfelt reply: “Momma, he represents them all. Momma he represents them all.”, Today, Lt. Billy Webb Avenue is in honor of them all. Like Billy, each of them had a face, friends, family and unfulfilled hopes and dreams. All had a story to be told. They all are among America's best and no one of them should ever be forgotten.