Memorial

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Pvt William M. Mayfield graduated from Byrd High School.

He joined the U.S. Army Reserve in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on 27 November 1942. He was selected for the Army Specialized Training Program. When the program was disbanded, he was transferred to the infantry. He went overseas in September 1944.

Pfc. Bill Myers letter to Pvt Mayfield's mother:
'Mayfield and another soldier had jumped into a foxhole while the company was taking heavy shelling. An artillery shell landed directly in the hole, killing both men.'
Pvt Mayfield’s body was never recovered. In his letter to Pvt Mayfield’s mother, Myers occasionally struggled to find the words to express his grief and sympathy.
“I do not know what to say, other than to tell both you and Mr. Mayfield that I’ve never known any man for which I’ve had more respect or admiration than your son,” he wrote. “I will never be able to forget Mabry and all the ideals he represented. I know how we’ve all been hoping and praying that Mabry would turn up somewhere. If there’s a heaven, Mabry’s there now. Mabry was killed in action 7 November 1944, in Holland. I can tell you that he suffered none, as he never knew what happened.”

Anyone who knew him recognized that he had a strong set of core values that carried him through any circumstances he encountered, Myers said.“It was evident in his life and the way he lived it,” Myers said. “He was the most impressive man I met in World War II.”

He was declared officially dead one day and one year after he was reported missing in action.