Bill Poff (84665385)
Suggested edit: Boyhood
Billy Dean Poff was born Nov. 27, 1944, in Auxvasse. When Bill was an infant, he was brought to the home of Larkin and Linnie Poff by his father.
"His dad's name was Homer. He was originally from Columbia, and he was my dad's nephew," Forman said. "When he and Bill's mother separated, he brought little Billy when he was 13 months old to my mom and dad and asked them if they would raise him, and of course they agreed."
Aside from a short stint living with his father when he was 6 years old, Bill lived with Larkin and Linnie into adulthood, according to Forman.
"Homer wanted Billy cared for and had every confidence in my dad and mother," she said. "They had him in their home until he married."
Communitywide, he was known for his easy going nature and sense of humor, said Lyndall Poff, Forman's brother.
"Bill was a good guy. He was easy to get along with and liked everybody," Lyndall said. "He had a good sense of humor and loved to tease and torment."
Lyndall said Bill's laid back nature did not interfere with his desire to compete with his second cousins, who were more like brothers to him.
"He was very competitive; if he played a game, he wanted to beat you," he added. "We used to pitch horseshoes and he would beat me."
While he never did play any sports in school, Lyndall said Bill was athletic and would often showcase his athleticism while playing for the church softball team. He was also an avid outdoorsman.
Among his hunting, fishing and athletic abilities, Bill also had other talents unknown to his family. A mail carrier once told Lyndall a story about Bill, previously unknown.
"He said (Bill) would take cars that didn't run, spend hours on them and make sure that car would purr," Lyndall said. "I had no idea he could do that."
According to others, Bill Poff's love of cars didn't end with fixing them up. Mike Bouleware, who works for Callaway Bank, recalled the perils of sharing the road with the young man.
"He was one of the locals who had a car," he said. "We learned to stay out of the road when he was driving."
Bill's lead foot was also the topic of conversation at a recent event in Hatton.
"Someone once told me that his parents told him, 'If you see that Poff boy coming down the road in a car, you jump in the ditch!'" Lyndall said, laughing.
Adulthood
Eventually, Bill Poff married Norma Jean Arnold, who goes by the nickname Jeanie, and they moved to Columbia. Bill, who was strapped for cash at the time, relied on his family to help him afford the legal fees to be wed.
"When he wanted to get married, he came to me to borrow $50 so he could pay for it," Lyndall said.
Jeanie married Bill a few years before he enlisted.
"When Bill and I got together, we had a good life for a while," she said. "He was a kind, tough, outgoing person."
Jeanie said she and Bill had characteristics that balanced each other. She also said he was reliable to both her and people in the community.
"I could really count on him; we had a great balance for a long time," she added. "He was a hard worker. He got things done. If someone was hurt, he was there to help."
Bill and Jeanie had two boys, Daniel and Michael Poff.
"He was foolish over his children," Forman said. "He loved his children very much; he was a devoted daddy."
They were both very young when Poff willingly enlisted in the United States Army. Although he relocated to southern Missouri for basic training, he was not without family in that area.
"He trained at Fort Leonard Wood," said Forman. "My husband and I lived close to there, and he came and visited in our house."
In January 1968, Bill started his tour in Vietnam. He was an infantryman and a Specialist Fourth Class. According to Arnold, he was a point man for his platoon. Because of his ability as a marksman, he would walk in front of the troops as they would march.
"He sent a Vietnamese flag back to my mother. They said he had taken it from a Vietnamese soldier," Forman said. "He was brave. The flag was later given to one of his sons."
On June 3 — five months after he arrived in Vietnam — he was caught in a firefight in the Dinh Tuong province in South Vietnam, near the banks of the Bassac River. He was killed instantly, according to a report filed by Army officials.
His death left his family in shock, they said.
"It hurt, bad. It was just like losing a brother," Lyndall Poff said. "Of course, it was very hard on my mother. We considered him a member of our family; he was equal."
Forman recalls being in church and feeling the impression that Bill was in danger. Later that day, she heard the news.
"They came to my mother's house and notified her of Billy's death," she said. "Then she called me to tell me he was gone."
Bill left behind his two boys and wife. Arnold recalled being informed of Bill's death.
"I was working as a beautician in Fulton at a hairdressing salon," she said. "Someone came and told my boss he needed to talk to me, and when he called me outside he told me."
The loss of Bill's influence in the lives of his two young boys was heartbreaking, according to Lyndall.
"The two boys were very small when he was killed," he said. "He didn't have much of a chance to be a dad to them."
Bill's remains were flown to Kansas City. Jeanie traveled with the body back to the Columbia Cemetery. Before he went to Vietnam, Bill had told Lynnie that was where he wanted to be buried if he was killed at war.
"He had told my mother that if he was killed and they sent his body back, he wanted to be buried by his dad," Forman added.
Bill got his wish and now lies next to his father. His grave is marked as a U.S. soldier.
Billy Dean Poff received two bronze stars and a purple heart posthumously, according to his wife and son.
His legacy
The legacy Bill Poff left is the same as so many veterans who died at war, said Forman.
"He didn't live long enough to make much of an impression on the world," she added.
Above all else, Forman remembers how easy it was to have Bill around.
"(He was) easy come, easy go," she said. "He was one-of-a kind to have around."
Janice Poff, Lyndall Poff's wife, said looking back, while it's hard to appreciate it in the moment, Bill's passing was a reminder of the fragility of life.
"If you roll back life, you would appreciate every one of those moments while you're in them," she said.
The pain from losing a husband and the father of her sons still lingers to this day, said Arnold.
"It was really hard because my two sons had to grow up without him," she added. "My younger son never got over it. Daniel bears it better than Michael and I do."
Daniel Poff, Bill's oldest son, is now a father of six living in Utah. Daniel said while growing up, he felt the void left by his father's death.
"I didn't have a father figure growing up, and I made a lot of mistakes because of not having that guidance," he said. "There's just a lot of things you miss not having a dad."
Daniel attended kindergarten at Ulysses S. Grant Elementary School in Columbia, next to the cemetery. Opal Forman said his proximity to the cemetery was difficult for the young boy.
"One day Daniel, when he began elementary school, ran off from school," she said. "They found him sitting by his daddy's grave."
When he wasn't running to his father's grave, school officials noticed the boys struggle, Daniel said.
"I would stand during recess and look across the cemetery," he added. "The school had me transferred after a few months to a different school."
Without knowing much about his father, Daniel said he was thrilled to learn more about his father. Through his own sons, he is able to feel a special connection to his dad.
"I have a son named Billy Dean," he added. "He is a lot like I envision my dad was."
Even with the stories and connection, Daniel said he knows he won't meet his father, yet he remains faithful they will one day be reunited.
"I've resolved myself to the fact that I'm waiting to meet him until the next life," he said.
Bill Poff may not have been around to teach his sons how to throw a baseball, but his sacrifice did instill certain characteristics in his boys, according to Daniel.
"I am very patriotic because of him," he said. "He chose to go, he chose to enlist, and I have always respected him for that."
Daniel hopes his father's story can help others focus on honoring the fallen veterans and also caring for their families, and especially the children, they leave behind.
Finding others
Bill's name is now etched into Panel 60 W, Row 4 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Memorial officials said they will be building an educational center which will include a 50-foot-wide wall, two stories tall, tying those dead soldiers' names to their photographs. In the meantime, those photos are being posted on www.vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces.
Janna Hoehn, one of the many volunteers who has collected about 4,000 photos for the project from her home in Hawaii, said she feels a special connection with each photo she locates.
"When I receive a photo, first I cry as they were so beautiful and so young," she said. "Then I feel like I have been a part of something very monumental."
Hoehn said preserving the photos is one of many ways Americans can honor the soldiers who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
"(We are) making sure our fallen heroes from the Vietnam War are never forgotten," she added. "They all deserve to be honored and remembered."
Bill D. Poff's picture was submitted Friday afternoon by Fulton Sun reporters. However, another fallen soldier from Callaway County is still missing his picture — and his story remains untold.
Suggested edit: Boyhood
Billy Dean Poff was born Nov. 27, 1944, in Auxvasse. When Bill was an infant, he was brought to the home of Larkin and Linnie Poff by his father.
"His dad's name was Homer. He was originally from Columbia, and he was my dad's nephew," Forman said. "When he and Bill's mother separated, he brought little Billy when he was 13 months old to my mom and dad and asked them if they would raise him, and of course they agreed."
Aside from a short stint living with his father when he was 6 years old, Bill lived with Larkin and Linnie into adulthood, according to Forman.
"Homer wanted Billy cared for and had every confidence in my dad and mother," she said. "They had him in their home until he married."
Communitywide, he was known for his easy going nature and sense of humor, said Lyndall Poff, Forman's brother.
"Bill was a good guy. He was easy to get along with and liked everybody," Lyndall said. "He had a good sense of humor and loved to tease and torment."
Lyndall said Bill's laid back nature did not interfere with his desire to compete with his second cousins, who were more like brothers to him.
"He was very competitive; if he played a game, he wanted to beat you," he added. "We used to pitch horseshoes and he would beat me."
While he never did play any sports in school, Lyndall said Bill was athletic and would often showcase his athleticism while playing for the church softball team. He was also an avid outdoorsman.
Among his hunting, fishing and athletic abilities, Bill also had other talents unknown to his family. A mail carrier once told Lyndall a story about Bill, previously unknown.
"He said (Bill) would take cars that didn't run, spend hours on them and make sure that car would purr," Lyndall said. "I had no idea he could do that."
According to others, Bill Poff's love of cars didn't end with fixing them up. Mike Bouleware, who works for Callaway Bank, recalled the perils of sharing the road with the young man.
"He was one of the locals who had a car," he said. "We learned to stay out of the road when he was driving."
Bill's lead foot was also the topic of conversation at a recent event in Hatton.
"Someone once told me that his parents told him, 'If you see that Poff boy coming down the road in a car, you jump in the ditch!'" Lyndall said, laughing.
Adulthood
Eventually, Bill Poff married Norma Jean Arnold, who goes by the nickname Jeanie, and they moved to Columbia. Bill, who was strapped for cash at the time, relied on his family to help him afford the legal fees to be wed.
"When he wanted to get married, he came to me to borrow $50 so he could pay for it," Lyndall said.
Jeanie married Bill a few years before he enlisted.
"When Bill and I got together, we had a good life for a while," she said. "He was a kind, tough, outgoing person."
Jeanie said she and Bill had characteristics that balanced each other. She also said he was reliable to both her and people in the community.
"I could really count on him; we had a great balance for a long time," she added. "He was a hard worker. He got things done. If someone was hurt, he was there to help."
Bill and Jeanie had two boys, Daniel and Michael Poff.
"He was foolish over his children," Forman said. "He loved his children very much; he was a devoted daddy."
They were both very young when Poff willingly enlisted in the United States Army. Although he relocated to southern Missouri for basic training, he was not without family in that area.
"He trained at Fort Leonard Wood," said Forman. "My husband and I lived close to there, and he came and visited in our house."
In January 1968, Bill started his tour in Vietnam. He was an infantryman and a Specialist Fourth Class. According to Arnold, he was a point man for his platoon. Because of his ability as a marksman, he would walk in front of the troops as they would march.
"He sent a Vietnamese flag back to my mother. They said he had taken it from a Vietnamese soldier," Forman said. "He was brave. The flag was later given to one of his sons."
On June 3 — five months after he arrived in Vietnam — he was caught in a firefight in the Dinh Tuong province in South Vietnam, near the banks of the Bassac River. He was killed instantly, according to a report filed by Army officials.
His death left his family in shock, they said.
"It hurt, bad. It was just like losing a brother," Lyndall Poff said. "Of course, it was very hard on my mother. We considered him a member of our family; he was equal."
Forman recalls being in church and feeling the impression that Bill was in danger. Later that day, she heard the news.
"They came to my mother's house and notified her of Billy's death," she said. "Then she called me to tell me he was gone."
Bill left behind his two boys and wife. Arnold recalled being informed of Bill's death.
"I was working as a beautician in Fulton at a hairdressing salon," she said. "Someone came and told my boss he needed to talk to me, and when he called me outside he told me."
The loss of Bill's influence in the lives of his two young boys was heartbreaking, according to Lyndall.
"The two boys were very small when he was killed," he said. "He didn't have much of a chance to be a dad to them."
Bill's remains were flown to Kansas City. Jeanie traveled with the body back to the Columbia Cemetery. Before he went to Vietnam, Bill had told Lynnie that was where he wanted to be buried if he was killed at war.
"He had told my mother that if he was killed and they sent his body back, he wanted to be buried by his dad," Forman added.
Bill got his wish and now lies next to his father. His grave is marked as a U.S. soldier.
Billy Dean Poff received two bronze stars and a purple heart posthumously, according to his wife and son.
His legacy
The legacy Bill Poff left is the same as so many veterans who died at war, said Forman.
"He didn't live long enough to make much of an impression on the world," she added.
Above all else, Forman remembers how easy it was to have Bill around.
"(He was) easy come, easy go," she said. "He was one-of-a kind to have around."
Janice Poff, Lyndall Poff's wife, said looking back, while it's hard to appreciate it in the moment, Bill's passing was a reminder of the fragility of life.
"If you roll back life, you would appreciate every one of those moments while you're in them," she said.
The pain from losing a husband and the father of her sons still lingers to this day, said Arnold.
"It was really hard because my two sons had to grow up without him," she added. "My younger son never got over it. Daniel bears it better than Michael and I do."
Daniel Poff, Bill's oldest son, is now a father of six living in Utah. Daniel said while growing up, he felt the void left by his father's death.
"I didn't have a father figure growing up, and I made a lot of mistakes because of not having that guidance," he said. "There's just a lot of things you miss not having a dad."
Daniel attended kindergarten at Ulysses S. Grant Elementary School in Columbia, next to the cemetery. Opal Forman said his proximity to the cemetery was difficult for the young boy.
"One day Daniel, when he began elementary school, ran off from school," she said. "They found him sitting by his daddy's grave."
When he wasn't running to his father's grave, school officials noticed the boys struggle, Daniel said.
"I would stand during recess and look across the cemetery," he added. "The school had me transferred after a few months to a different school."
Without knowing much about his father, Daniel said he was thrilled to learn more about his father. Through his own sons, he is able to feel a special connection to his dad.
"I have a son named Billy Dean," he added. "He is a lot like I envision my dad was."
Even with the stories and connection, Daniel said he knows he won't meet his father, yet he remains faithful they will one day be reunited.
"I've resolved myself to the fact that I'm waiting to meet him until the next life," he said.
Bill Poff may not have been around to teach his sons how to throw a baseball, but his sacrifice did instill certain characteristics in his boys, according to Daniel.
"I am very patriotic because of him," he said. "He chose to go, he chose to enlist, and I have always respected him for that."
Daniel hopes his father's story can help others focus on honoring the fallen veterans and also caring for their families, and especially the children, they leave behind.
Finding others
Bill's name is now etched into Panel 60 W, Row 4 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Memorial officials said they will be building an educational center which will include a 50-foot-wide wall, two stories tall, tying those dead soldiers' names to their photographs. In the meantime, those photos are being posted on www.vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces.
Janna Hoehn, one of the many volunteers who has collected about 4,000 photos for the project from her home in Hawaii, said she feels a special connection with each photo she locates.
"When I receive a photo, first I cry as they were so beautiful and so young," she said. "Then I feel like I have been a part of something very monumental."
Hoehn said preserving the photos is one of many ways Americans can honor the soldiers who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
"(We are) making sure our fallen heroes from the Vietnam War are never forgotten," she added. "They all deserve to be honored and remembered."
Bill D. Poff's picture was submitted Friday afternoon by Fulton Sun reporters. However, another fallen soldier from Callaway County is still missing his picture — and his story remains untold.
Bill Poff (84665385)
Suggested edit: Boyhood
Billy Dean Poff was born Nov. 27, 1944, in Auxvasse. When Bill was an infant, he was brought to the home of Larkin and Linnie Poff by his father.
"His dad's name was Homer. He was originally from Columbia, and he was my dad's nephew," Forman said. "When he and Bill's mother separated, he brought little Billy when he was 13 months old to my mom and dad and asked them if they would raise him, and of course they agreed."
Aside from a short stint living with his father when he was 6 years old, Bill lived with Larkin and Linnie into adulthood, according to Forman.
"Homer wanted Billy cared for and had every confidence in my dad and mother," she said. "They had him in their home until he married."
Communitywide, he was known for his easy going nature and sense of humor, said Lyndall Poff, Forman's brother.
"Bill was a good guy. He was easy to get along with and liked everybody," Lyndall said. "He had a good sense of humor and loved to tease and torment."
Lyndall said Bill's laid back nature did not interfere with his desire to compete with his second cousins, who were more like brothers to him.
"He was very competitive; if he played a game, he wanted to beat you," he added. "We used to pitch horseshoes and he would beat me."
While he never did play any sports in school, Lyndall said Bill was athletic and would often showcase his athleticism while playing for the church softball team. He was also an avid outdoorsman.
Among his hunting, fishing and athletic abilities, Bill also had other talents unknown to his family. A mail carrier once told Lyndall a story about Bill, previously unknown.
"He said (Bill) would take cars that didn't run, spend hours on them and make sure that car would purr," Lyndall said. "I had no idea he could do that."
According to others, Bill Poff's love of cars didn't end with fixing them up. Mike Bouleware, who works for Callaway Bank, recalled the perils of sharing the road with the young man.
"He was one of the locals who had a car," he said. "We learned to stay out of the road when he was driving."
Bill's lead foot was also the topic of conversation at a recent event in Hatton.
"Someone once told me that his parents told him, 'If you see that Poff boy coming down the road in a car, you jump in the ditch!'" Lyndall said, laughing.
Adulthood
Eventually, Bill Poff married Norma Jean Arnold, who goes by the nickname Jeanie, and they moved to Columbia. Bill, who was strapped for cash at the time, relied on his family to help him afford the legal fees to be wed.
"When he wanted to get married, he came to me to borrow $50 so he could pay for it," Lyndall said.
Jeanie married Bill a few years before he enlisted.
"When Bill and I got together, we had a good life for a while," she said. "He was a kind, tough, outgoing person."
Jeanie said she and Bill had characteristics that balanced each other. She also said he was reliable to both her and people in the community.
"I could really count on him; we had a great balance for a long time," she added. "He was a hard worker. He got things done. If someone was hurt, he was there to help."
Bill and Jeanie had two boys, Daniel and Michael Poff.
"He was foolish over his children," Forman said. "He loved his children very much; he was a devoted daddy."
They were both very young when Poff willingly enlisted in the United States Army. Although he relocated to southern Missouri for basic training, he was not without family in that area.
"He trained at Fort Leonard Wood," said Forman. "My husband and I lived close to there, and he came and visited in our house."
In January 1968, Bill started his tour in Vietnam. He was an infantryman and a Specialist Fourth Class. According to Arnold, he was a point man for his platoon. Because of his ability as a marksman, he would walk in front of the troops as they would march.
"He sent a Vietnamese flag back to my mother. They said he had taken it from a Vietnamese soldier," Forman said. "He was brave. The flag was later given to one of his sons."
On June 3 — five months after he arrived in Vietnam — he was caught in a firefight in the Dinh Tuong province in South Vietnam, near the banks of the Bassac River. He was killed instantly, according to a report filed by Army officials.
His death left his family in shock, they said.
"It hurt, bad. It was just like losing a brother," Lyndall Poff said. "Of course, it was very hard on my mother. We considered him a member of our family; he was equal."
Forman recalls being in church and feeling the impression that Bill was in danger. Later that day, she heard the news.
"They came to my mother's house and notified her of Billy's death," she said. "Then she called me to tell me he was gone."
Bill left behind his two boys and wife. Arnold recalled being informed of Bill's death.
"I was working as a beautician in Fulton at a hairdressing salon," she said. "Someone came and told my boss he needed to talk to me, and when he called me outside he told me."
The loss of Bill's influence in the lives of his two young boys was heartbreaking, according to Lyndall.
"The two boys were very small when he was killed," he said. "He didn't have much of a chance to be a dad to them."
Bill's remains were flown to Kansas City. Jeanie traveled with the body back to the Columbia Cemetery. Before he went to Vietnam, Bill had told Lynnie that was where he wanted to be buried if he was killed at war.
"He had told my mother that if he was killed and they sent his body back, he wanted to be buried by his dad," Forman added.
Bill got his wish and now lies next to his father. His grave is marked as a U.S. soldier.
Billy Dean Poff received two bronze stars and a purple heart posthumously, according to his wife and son.
His legacy
The legacy Bill Poff left is the same as so many veterans who died at war, said Forman.
"He didn't live long enough to make much of an impression on the world," she added.
Above all else, Forman remembers how easy it was to have Bill around.
"(He was) easy come, easy go," she said. "He was one-of-a kind to have around."
Janice Poff, Lyndall Poff's wife, said looking back, while it's hard to appreciate it in the moment, Bill's passing was a reminder of the fragility of life.
"If you roll back life, you would appreciate every one of those moments while you're in them," she said.
The pain from losing a husband and the father of her sons still lingers to this day, said Arnold.
"It was really hard because my two sons had to grow up without him," she added. "My younger son never got over it. Daniel bears it better than Michael and I do."
Daniel Poff, Bill's oldest son, is now a father of six living in Utah. Daniel said while growing up, he felt the void left by his father's death.
"I didn't have a father figure growing up, and I made a lot of mistakes because of not having that guidance," he said. "There's just a lot of things you miss not having a dad."
Daniel attended kindergarten at Ulysses S. Grant Elementary School in Columbia, next to the cemetery. Opal Forman said his proximity to the cemetery was difficult for the young boy.
"One day Daniel, when he began elementary school, ran off from school," she said. "They found him sitting by his daddy's grave."
When he wasn't running to his father's grave, school officials noticed the boys struggle, Daniel said.
"I would stand during recess and look across the cemetery," he added. "The school had me transferred after a few months to a different school."
Without knowing much about his father, Daniel said he was thrilled to learn more about his father. Through his own sons, he is able to feel a special connection to his dad.
"I have a son named Billy Dean," he added. "He is a lot like I envision my dad was."
Even with the stories and connection, Daniel said he knows he won't meet his father, yet he remains faithful they will one day be reunited.
"I've resolved myself to the fact that I'm waiting to meet him until the next life," he said.
Bill Poff may not have been around to teach his sons how to throw a baseball, but his sacrifice did instill certain characteristics in his boys, according to Daniel.
"I am very patriotic because of him," he said. "He chose to go, he chose to enlist, and I have always respected him for that."
Daniel hopes his father's story can help others focus on honoring the fallen veterans and also caring for their families, and especially the children, they leave behind.
Finding others
Bill's name is now etched into Panel 60 W, Row 4 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Memorial officials said they will be building an educational center which will include a 50-foot-wide wall, two stories tall, tying those dead soldiers' names to their photographs. In the meantime, those photos are being posted on www.vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces.
Janna Hoehn, one of the many volunteers who has collected about 4,000 photos for the project from her home in Hawaii, said she feels a special connection with each photo she locates.
"When I receive a photo, first I cry as they were so beautiful and so young," she said. "Then I feel like I have been a part of something very monumental."
Hoehn said preserving the photos is one of many ways Americans can honor the soldiers who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
"(We are) making sure our fallen heroes from the Vietnam War are never forgotten," she added. "They all deserve to be honored and remembered."
Bill D. Poff's picture was submitted Friday afternoon by Fulton Sun reporters. However, another fallen soldier from Callaway County is still missing his picture — and his story remains untold.
Suggested edit: Boyhood
Billy Dean Poff was born Nov. 27, 1944, in Auxvasse. When Bill was an infant, he was brought to the home of Larkin and Linnie Poff by his father.
"His dad's name was Homer. He was originally from Columbia, and he was my dad's nephew," Forman said. "When he and Bill's mother separated, he brought little Billy when he was 13 months old to my mom and dad and asked them if they would raise him, and of course they agreed."
Aside from a short stint living with his father when he was 6 years old, Bill lived with Larkin and Linnie into adulthood, according to Forman.
"Homer wanted Billy cared for and had every confidence in my dad and mother," she said. "They had him in their home until he married."
Communitywide, he was known for his easy going nature and sense of humor, said Lyndall Poff, Forman's brother.
"Bill was a good guy. He was easy to get along with and liked everybody," Lyndall said. "He had a good sense of humor and loved to tease and torment."
Lyndall said Bill's laid back nature did not interfere with his desire to compete with his second cousins, who were more like brothers to him.
"He was very competitive; if he played a game, he wanted to beat you," he added. "We used to pitch horseshoes and he would beat me."
While he never did play any sports in school, Lyndall said Bill was athletic and would often showcase his athleticism while playing for the church softball team. He was also an avid outdoorsman.
Among his hunting, fishing and athletic abilities, Bill also had other talents unknown to his family. A mail carrier once told Lyndall a story about Bill, previously unknown.
"He said (Bill) would take cars that didn't run, spend hours on them and make sure that car would purr," Lyndall said. "I had no idea he could do that."
According to others, Bill Poff's love of cars didn't end with fixing them up. Mike Bouleware, who works for Callaway Bank, recalled the perils of sharing the road with the young man.
"He was one of the locals who had a car," he said. "We learned to stay out of the road when he was driving."
Bill's lead foot was also the topic of conversation at a recent event in Hatton.
"Someone once told me that his parents told him, 'If you see that Poff boy coming down the road in a car, you jump in the ditch!'" Lyndall said, laughing.
Adulthood
Eventually, Bill Poff married Norma Jean Arnold, who goes by the nickname Jeanie, and they moved to Columbia. Bill, who was strapped for cash at the time, relied on his family to help him afford the legal fees to be wed.
"When he wanted to get married, he came to me to borrow $50 so he could pay for it," Lyndall said.
Jeanie married Bill a few years before he enlisted.
"When Bill and I got together, we had a good life for a while," she said. "He was a kind, tough, outgoing person."
Jeanie said she and Bill had characteristics that balanced each other. She also said he was reliable to both her and people in the community.
"I could really count on him; we had a great balance for a long time," she added. "He was a hard worker. He got things done. If someone was hurt, he was there to help."
Bill and Jeanie had two boys, Daniel and Michael Poff.
"He was foolish over his children," Forman said. "He loved his children very much; he was a devoted daddy."
They were both very young when Poff willingly enlisted in the United States Army. Although he relocated to southern Missouri for basic training, he was not without family in that area.
"He trained at Fort Leonard Wood," said Forman. "My husband and I lived close to there, and he came and visited in our house."
In January 1968, Bill started his tour in Vietnam. He was an infantryman and a Specialist Fourth Class. According to Arnold, he was a point man for his platoon. Because of his ability as a marksman, he would walk in front of the troops as they would march.
"He sent a Vietnamese flag back to my mother. They said he had taken it from a Vietnamese soldier," Forman said. "He was brave. The flag was later given to one of his sons."
On June 3 — five months after he arrived in Vietnam — he was caught in a firefight in the Dinh Tuong province in South Vietnam, near the banks of the Bassac River. He was killed instantly, according to a report filed by Army officials.
His death left his family in shock, they said.
"It hurt, bad. It was just like losing a brother," Lyndall Poff said. "Of course, it was very hard on my mother. We considered him a member of our family; he was equal."
Forman recalls being in church and feeling the impression that Bill was in danger. Later that day, she heard the news.
"They came to my mother's house and notified her of Billy's death," she said. "Then she called me to tell me he was gone."
Bill left behind his two boys and wife. Arnold recalled being informed of Bill's death.
"I was working as a beautician in Fulton at a hairdressing salon," she said. "Someone came and told my boss he needed to talk to me, and when he called me outside he told me."
The loss of Bill's influence in the lives of his two young boys was heartbreaking, according to Lyndall.
"The two boys were very small when he was killed," he said. "He didn't have much of a chance to be a dad to them."
Bill's remains were flown to Kansas City. Jeanie traveled with the body back to the Columbia Cemetery. Before he went to Vietnam, Bill had told Lynnie that was where he wanted to be buried if he was killed at war.
"He had told my mother that if he was killed and they sent his body back, he wanted to be buried by his dad," Forman added.
Bill got his wish and now lies next to his father. His grave is marked as a U.S. soldier.
Billy Dean Poff received two bronze stars and a purple heart posthumously, according to his wife and son.
His legacy
The legacy Bill Poff left is the same as so many veterans who died at war, said Forman.
"He didn't live long enough to make much of an impression on the world," she added.
Above all else, Forman remembers how easy it was to have Bill around.
"(He was) easy come, easy go," she said. "He was one-of-a kind to have around."
Janice Poff, Lyndall Poff's wife, said looking back, while it's hard to appreciate it in the moment, Bill's passing was a reminder of the fragility of life.
"If you roll back life, you would appreciate every one of those moments while you're in them," she said.
The pain from losing a husband and the father of her sons still lingers to this day, said Arnold.
"It was really hard because my two sons had to grow up without him," she added. "My younger son never got over it. Daniel bears it better than Michael and I do."
Daniel Poff, Bill's oldest son, is now a father of six living in Utah. Daniel said while growing up, he felt the void left by his father's death.
"I didn't have a father figure growing up, and I made a lot of mistakes because of not having that guidance," he said. "There's just a lot of things you miss not having a dad."
Daniel attended kindergarten at Ulysses S. Grant Elementary School in Columbia, next to the cemetery. Opal Forman said his proximity to the cemetery was difficult for the young boy.
"One day Daniel, when he began elementary school, ran off from school," she said. "They found him sitting by his daddy's grave."
When he wasn't running to his father's grave, school officials noticed the boys struggle, Daniel said.
"I would stand during recess and look across the cemetery," he added. "The school had me transferred after a few months to a different school."
Without knowing much about his father, Daniel said he was thrilled to learn more about his father. Through his own sons, he is able to feel a special connection to his dad.
"I have a son named Billy Dean," he added. "He is a lot like I envision my dad was."
Even with the stories and connection, Daniel said he knows he won't meet his father, yet he remains faithful they will one day be reunited.
"I've resolved myself to the fact that I'm waiting to meet him until the next life," he said.
Bill Poff may not have been around to teach his sons how to throw a baseball, but his sacrifice did instill certain characteristics in his boys, according to Daniel.
"I am very patriotic because of him," he said. "He chose to go, he chose to enlist, and I have always respected him for that."
Daniel hopes his father's story can help others focus on honoring the fallen veterans and also caring for their families, and especially the children, they leave behind.
Finding others
Bill's name is now etched into Panel 60 W, Row 4 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Memorial officials said they will be building an educational center which will include a 50-foot-wide wall, two stories tall, tying those dead soldiers' names to their photographs. In the meantime, those photos are being posted on www.vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces.
Janna Hoehn, one of the many volunteers who has collected about 4,000 photos for the project from her home in Hawaii, said she feels a special connection with each photo she locates.
"When I receive a photo, first I cry as they were so beautiful and so young," she said. "Then I feel like I have been a part of something very monumental."
Hoehn said preserving the photos is one of many ways Americans can honor the soldiers who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
"(We are) making sure our fallen heroes from the Vietnam War are never forgotten," she added. "They all deserve to be honored and remembered."
Bill D. Poff's picture was submitted Friday afternoon by Fulton Sun reporters. However, another fallen soldier from Callaway County is still missing his picture — and his story remains untold.
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