Bravery in an Emerging War
By Benjamin A. Lindley
Photo of Billy Lindley with his sister and his wife https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/3357071/billy_don-lindley#source Courtesy of James Lang
Map of the Battle of the Pusan Perimeter & Subsequent Inchon-Seoul Campaign (United States Marine Corps University)
A 60mm Mortar Platoon Engaged Along the Naktong, September 3, 1950, the same day as Billy’s courageous actions. (“The 1950 Fighting Marine,” americanwarrior.com)
Billy D. Lindley Sr.
April 24, 1929 - September 7, 1993
To be courageous during wartime requires a great deal of mental fortitude and self-trust. This is especially true when you find yourself fighting during the outbreak of a war halfway across the world. Within the first months of US involvement in the Korean War, Billy Lindley proved just how courageous young Marines can be.
Billy Lindley was born in the spring of 1929[1] to his parents, Thomas Lindley and Alma Pearson. His older sister Edna was born two years earlier in 1927. In 1936, when Billy was seven years old, Billy’s father, Thomas Lindley, passed away at age 28. Although Billy’s mother, Alma, survived, Billy was given up as an orphan to the St Peter's Orphanage in San Antonio shortly after Thomas Lindley’s death. During the Great depression, San Antonio was hit exceptionally hard by the economic fallout of the era.[2] The population of San Antonio was mainly comprised of poor, Mexican American and white laborers who relied on seasonal agriculture jobs to get by, such as cotton or pecan-picking.[3] With the effects of the Dust Bowl and the Depression worsening week by week during the 1930s, racism and sexism in San Antonio became even harsher as minorities and women started to try to fill male-dominated labor markets.[4]
In Alma’s case, likely, there were simply no jobs available to her, or no jobs good enough to support herself and two children during 1936. Following the death of her husband, the financial head of household, Alma had to make the gut-wrenching decision to put her children in the orphanage. Billy lost his father at a young age and subsequently lost the rest of his family to the economic hardships of the era. Like many children who came of age during the Great Depression and World War Two, Billy developed a strong sense of individual responsibility and duty. He also had to mature quickly during his time at St. Peter’s Orphanage. At the orphanage, Billy picked up football and played for the Central Catholic School at age 12.[5] Billy continued to play sports into his later adolescence; his favorites were football and boxing.[6] Billy would box so well that he was continuously profiled and praised in local and statewide newspapers for his boxing skills. After attending Central Catholic School while living in the San Antonio orphanage[7], Billy Lindley enlisted in the Marine Corps on November 7th, 1949,[8] and less than one year later, Billy would see combat and join the ranks of some of the most honorable Marines of the Korean War.
From San Antonio, Billy would head west to Camp Pendelton, CA, for basic training under the 1st Marine Division. Billy likely stayed in California to train well into the summer of 1950. Also in the summer of 1950, one of the most overlooked wars of the twentieth century would begin when communist-backed North Korea invaded US-backed South Korea. After World War Two, the Korean Peninsula was split horizontally along the 38th parallel, with the Soviets having occupational control of the north and the US having occupational control of the south. This invasion by North Korean aggressors into South Korea sparked a proxy war between the USSR and the USA that would last three years, ultimately leaving the north and south borders virtually unchanged. After the full-scale invasion of the south by the North Koreans, the US military went into panic mode and began sending troops westward into the Pacific to begin preparation for a counterassault.
The Marines had some of the first divisions sent overseas at the beginning of the Korean War, and the 1st Marine Division was no exception. Billy and his fellow 1st Marine Division of the 5th Marines Regiment left Camp Pendelton in California for Japan, and subsequently the Korean peninsula, where they were immediately thrown into the Battle of the Pusan Perimeter in August of 1950.[9] The Pusan Perimeter was the United Nations’ stand against the rapid advance of the North Korean army into South Korea in the southeast portion of the Korean peninsula. Predating the Inchon landings orchestrated by MacArthur, the Pusan Perimeter was a desperate attempt to halt the increasing possibility of a solely communist Korea. [10]
As August rolled into September, Billy and his unit would be stationed 1.5 miles west of the city of Yongsan in an area filled with rough terrain and hills.[11] Billy Lindley was the fire team leader, and as he approached his ridgeline objective on September 3, 1950, an enemy mortar fired a direct hit at the squad. Two Marines were killed instantly, and everyone else in the squad was wounded, including Billy. Billy had several shrapnel wounds to his upper body and face; however, he refused medical evacuation.[12] Instead, he led a partial squad and captured the objective in conjunction with other assault squads. For his actions, Billy would receive the Silver Star, one of the most honorable awards one can receive in the US Military.[13] After a Purple Heart was issued during his brief medical treatment in San Francisco,[14] and after being awarded the Silver Star, Billy went on to serve in the Marines for two more years until being discharged in September of 1952. Again in 1951, Billy would be injured again and receive a second Purple Heart for his injury. Although it is not necessarily known how many battles Billy was present for during the length of his service, his 1st Marines Division of the 5th Marines Regiment went on to play a key role in the Inchon-Seoul campaign, the battle of the Chosin Reservoir, and the Nevada Cities Campaign.[15]
Before his official discharge in September 1952, Billy would have his first child in January of 1952, Billy Don Lindley Jr.[16] With his name changed to Billy Don Lindley Senior and his Marine career behind him, Billy could start to focus on building a family he never had. Billy had at least two wives; however, due to conflicting accounts, Billy could have been married to three or four wives in total throughout his life. Not much is known about Billy Lindley’s life after his valor in the Korean War. He had two daughters after Billy Jr., one named Melinda, born in 1956, and one daughter listed as a private name on different research websites. Additionally, Billy had a second son later in life, named Russell, who had a different mother than his other children. Most notably in his post-war life, Billy would go on to see both his son, Billy Jr., and his grandson, Carlos, join the Marines just like he did in 1949. His son Billy Jr. joined during the Vietnam War, and his grandson Carlos joined during Desert Storm during the invasion of Kuwait.
Billy Don Lindley Sr. passed away at age 64 on September 7, 1993, in Colorado. Shortly after his death in 1993, Billy’s grandson, Carlos Lindley, would pass away at age 27. Billy Don Lindley Jr. would pass away later in October of 2014, at age 62. Although the men of the Lindley family had lives that were cut all too short, the courage, determination, and valor exhibited in each generation of Billy’s descendants was more than most people can achieve with 100 years of life on this Earth. Billy Don Lindley Sr. pushed through the pain of being an orphan, the hell of being a Marine in the Korean War and came out the other side to raise a family that would see generations of brave Lindleys after him.
Footnotes ↓
[1] Lang, James, “Photos of Billy Don Lindley Sr. - Find a Grave...” Find a Grave, accessed September 3, 2025, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/3357071/billy_don-lindley/photo.
[2] Texas State Historical Association, “The Economic and Social Impact of the Great Depression on Texas,” accessed September 3, 2025, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/great-depression#:~:text=On%20the%20eve%20of%20the%20depression%2C%20delegates,number%20of%20strikes%20protesting%20low%20wages%20and.
[3] Texas State Historical Association. “The Economic and Social Impact of the Great Depression on Texas.”
[4] Texas State Historical Association. “The Economic and Social Impact of the Great Depression on Texas.”
[5] “Newspapers-Billy Don Lindley,” Ancestry.com, accessed September 3, 2025, https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/51973/images/News-TE-SA_AN_LI.-1946_10_01-0011?queryId=237aaad0-6920-4d09-a494-9c245a2c2741&usePUB=true&_phsrc=XgQ11&_phstart=successSource&pId=496305163&rcstate=News-TE-SA_AN_LI.-1946_10_01-0011%3A2768%2C829%2C2891%2C862%3B2929%2C950%2C2976%2C983%3B2382%2C1288%2C2471%2C1321%3B2175%2C1983%2C2257%2C2016%3B2632%2C1421%2C2711%2C1454%3B2752%2C1592%2C2834%2C1625%3B3187%2C996%2C3233%2C1029%3B1335%2C2533%2C1420%2C2566%3B1361%2C3059%2C1452%2C3092%3B1362%2C3275%2C1442%2C3308%3B1017%2C4700%2C1255%2C4733%3B1190%2C5071%2C1277%2C5104%3B2675%2C829%2C2752%2C862.
[6] “Newspapers-Billy Don Lindley,” Ancestry.com, accessed September 3, 2025, https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/51973/images/News-TE-SA_AN_LI.-1946_10_01-0011?queryId=237aaad0-6920-4d09-a494-9c245a2c2741&usePUB=true&_phsrc=XgQ11&_phstart=successSource&pId=496305163&rcstate=News-TE-SA_AN_LI.-1946_10_01-0011%3A2768%2C829%2C2891%2C862%3B2929%2C950%2C2976%2C983%3B2382%2C1288%2C2471%2C1321%3B2175%2C1983%2C2257%2C2016%3B2632%2C1421%2C2711%2C1454%3B2752%2C1592%2C2834%2C1625%3B3187%2C996%2C3233%2C1029%3B1335%2C2533%2C1420%2C2566%3B1361%2C3059%2C1452%2C3092%3B1362%2C3275%2C1442%2C3308%3B1017%2C4700%2C1255%2C4733%3B1190%2C5071%2C1277%2C5104%3B2675%2C829%2C2752%2C862.
[7] “Journey to Healing,” St. PJ’s Children’s Home, accessed September 3, 2025, https://stpjhome.org/.
[8] “Military Records-Billy Don Lindley,” Ancestry.com, accessed September 3, 2025, https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2441/records/5769546?tid=&pid=&queryId=3b2e52fc13e64ead6de348a981c75549&_phsrc=FAQ12&_phstart=successSource.
[9] “Unit Home,” 1st Marine Division, accessed September 3, 2025, https://www.1stmardiv.marines.mil/Units/5TH-MARINE-REGT/1st-Battalion/.
[10] “The 1950 Fighting Marine,” The American Warrior, November 29, 2015, accessed September 3, 2025, https://theamericanwarrior.com/2015/11/29/the-1950-fighting-marine/#:~:text=During%20the%202nd%20Battle%20of%20the%20Naktong,last%20North%20Korean%20offensive%20of%20the%20summer.&text=The%201st%20Marine%20Division%20was%20pulled%20out,Wonsan%20on%20the%20east%20coast%20of%20Korea.
[11] “Korean War Educator: Topics - Silver Star Recipients,” The Korean War Educator, accessed September 3, 2025, https://thekwe.org/topics/silver_star/.
[12] “Korean War Educator: Topics - Silver Star Recipients.”
[13] “Billy Lindley,” Hall of Valor: Medal of Honor, Silver Star, U.S. Military Awards, November 6, 2024, Military Times, accessed September 3, 2025, https://valor.militarytimes.com/recipient/recipient-37401/.
[14] “Military Records-Billy Don Lindley,” Ancestry.com, accessed September 3, 2025, https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/51973/images/News-TE-SA_AN_LI.-1951_04_11-0040?queryId=e38cd1ae-d8e1-4565-b704-cf17a80929e6&usePUB=true&_phsrc=XgQ6&_phstart=successSource&pId=498740264&rcstate=News-TE-SA_AN_LI.-1951_04_11-0040%3A1881%2C579%2C1994%2C612%3B2254%2C3792%2C2364%2C3821%3B1733%2C4000%2C1837%2C4033%3B1735%2C579%2C1816%2C612
[15] “Home,” U.S. Marine Corps Forces Korea, accessed September 3, 2025, https://www.marfork.marines.mil/About/History/.
[16] Lang, James, “Photos of Billy Don Lindley Sr. - Find a Grave...” Find a Grave, accessed September 3, 2025, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/3357071/billy_don-lindley/photo.
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