Editor's note: Billy McDowell, of De Soto, died Sept. 17; he was 90.

As each generation ages, the people in that generation are awed by the technological advances and other changes they have experienced in their lives—metamorphic transformations in the workplace, entertainment, music, and the morals and values they cherished. Many of these changes, however, made life easier, safer, and more comfortable and were welcomed with open arms.

In the minds of many members of the older generations is a perception that the younger generations believe the world has always been as they presently see it. Some senior adults want to shout, "No! This is not how things have always been. You have many things to learn. Listen; I want to tell you about it."

The attempt to get the message out is why stories are told, why history is written. It's why Billy James McDowell, a resident of De Soto, has wrote a book about his life. The book is titled Three Young Men.

In the book, he wrote of being born in 1921 on a dirt floor in a tent near the oil fields of Jacksboro, Texas. McDowell's mother passed the brown eyes and dark hair of her American Indian heritage along to him.

McDowell was the firstborn child of his red-headed Irish father, who was number 10 in a family of 15 children. Billy's mother, a widow whose long black hair hung below her waist, had brought to the marriage another son, Sherman, who was four years older than Billy.

When the oil field work was over, the McDowell family moved to a farm in the area. There Harold Sidney McDowell, another brown-eyed, dark-haired boy, was born in 1923.

McDowell's father farmed as a sharecropper and experienced foreclosure when he owned his own farm.

In his book, McDowell presents to his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren a picture of what it was like to be raised on a farm with Harold. Most of their childhoods, their father raised them alone (his mother left when he was 9); the only heat during the winter came from a fireplace; and there was no air-conditioning during the summer. McDowell wants his offspring to know that hot and cold running water usually wasn't available; that bathrooms have not always been located inside the house; and that there was no such thing as an indoor shower. As children, Billy and Harold had to strap a long bag to their shoulders and pick cotton. Working to complete chores before leaving for school was not uncommon.

In 1940, McDowell graduated from the 11th grade (there was no 12th grade) and began a new life by joining the Army Air Corps. He had liked mathematics in school and had developed some skills that helped propel him into responsible jobs. He was tapped to go to a "hush-hush" school to study America's new, highly secret Norden bombsight, used to aid the crews of bomber aircraft in dropping bombs accurately. Eventually McDowell was assigned to Forbes Air Force Base in Topeka, Kan., where he was placed in charge of the Norden bombsight vault. His commander advanced his promotion one stripe a month until he reached master sergeant.

McDowell's commander recommended the 21-year-old sergeant to West Point, but because McDowell was three months past the age limit, he was dropped from consideration to attend the highly prestigious military school.

While at Forbes, McDowell met and married; they had twin daughters, Arlene and Joyce.

After he left the military, McDowell calibrated aircraft instruments for TWA in Kansas City before moving on to Standard Oil of Indiana at Sugar Creek as an instrument mechanic.

After several years, McDowell's marriage ended in divorce. After retirement, in 1969 he remarried Irene, a woman he had met at his job at the Gulf Research and Development Co.

The couple love to travel, have visited several countries, and have spent winters in Texas and Arizona. They relish their time together and recall with fondness their many years of ballroom dancing. Together they have three children, six grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren.

McDowell worked on his book for 12 years before losing sight in both eyes. His grandson, Joel Perry, and his wife, Erin, completed McDowell's book for him.

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