Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has directed that U.S. and Arkansas flags be flown at half-staff Friday to honor U.S. Army Technician Fifth Grade William Paul “Billy” Keele, a World War II prisoner of war who died in 1942. Keele’s remains, identified in 2019, were returned to Arkansas this week.
Keele, who enlisted in the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps in 1940, was assigned to the 33rd Quartermaster Truck Company in the Philippines. He was captured by Japanese forces in 1942 during the fall of Bataan. Keele endured the infamous 65-mile Bataan Death March before being imprisoned at Cabanatuan Prisoner of War Camp. He died while in captivity on July 16, 1942.
A funeral service for Keele was held Tuesday in Greenwood, Arkansas. He is set to be buried Friday, August 7, at Fort Smith National Cemetery with full military honors.
In her directive, Gov. Sanders called for flags to be lowered from sunrise to sunset on Friday as a tribute to Keele’s military service and sacrifice for the nation.