By Rebecca Goodman
The Cincinnati Enquirer

MILAN, Ind. - William F. Glover could have died three different times in one day during World War II. Instead, he spent 20 months as a prisoner of war in Germany and helped 76 allied POWs escape in March 1944.

He came home to finish veterinary school, and serve on the Milan Community School Board.

Dr. Glover died Friday at Ripley Crossing in Milan. He was 87.

Born in Lawrenceburg in 1916, he graduated from Milan High School in 1934. It was the Great Depression, and he had to work on an uncle's farm and at the Milan Furniture Factory to earn enough money to go to Ohio State University. His dream was to become a veterinarian.

But the Army drafted him after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. He initially served with the Coastal Artillery, but was soon transferred into the Army Air Corps, where he became a B-17 bombardier.

His daughter, Angie Olds of Melbourne, Fla., said he was given intelligence training before he became part of the U.S. 8th Air Force raid in Germany.

The day was Aug. 17, 1943. The raid was on several ball-bearing factories in Schweinfurt.

"In a B-17 the bombardier sits right in the nose of the plane," his daughter said. "They had a shell that came in through the nose ... it exploded behind him."

His fellow crew members "beat on him trying to get the fire out," his daughter said. "His hair was on fire and so were some of his clothes. The plane was on fire and they bailed out. He pulled his cord too soon, so he was too high - he was almost passed out from lack of oxygen.

"Since he took so long getting down, they (the crew) were all there to greet him. I guess the civilians were not happy with them. He had a couple of German soldiers that were escorting him into town (when) this one little old farmer about 70 years old walked right up and spit in his face because they were bombing their homes."

That same farmer had to be restrained from bashing Dr. Glover in the head with a football-sized rock, his daughter said.

"There were three times that day he should have died. One was the shell. Another one was when he jumped out of that airplane. And the other time was after he was on the ground and the folks weren't too happy to see him.

"As they walked into town, he saw some of the other fliers that had bailed out. The civilians had gotten to them before the soldiers did, and they were hanging from lampposts. He said, 'I just huddled up with the soldiers and let them take care of me.'

"He was in the camp where they had the great escape. He wasn't in the bunch that escaped, but he helped do some intelligence work pertaining to it," his daughter said.

For example, Dr. Glover had learned that playing cards delivered to the prisoners by Red Cross contained pieces of silk that had maps printed on them. They soaked the cards to get the silk out and pieced together maps used in the escape. He also helped magnetize needles that were put into metal buttons to make tiny compasses.

When Dr. Glover returned home to Milan, he used his back pay from his months as a POW to buy the family farm from a cousin. In 1976 the farm was designated a Historic Hoosier Homestead Farm.

He went to veterinary school at Ohio State, graduating in 1949. He set up his office on the farm. He was one of the only veterinarians in Ripley County and the surrounding area, according to his daughter.

He retired after 33 years.

In addition to service on the school board, Dr. Glover was a 4-H leader, a supervisor and adviser for the Soil Conservation District, and director of the Ripley Historical Society.

Milan High School presented him its Distinguished Alumni Award in 1995.

Dr. Glover, who received a Purple Heart for his World War II service, was a life member of the Milan American Legion and VFW. He was also a member of Milan United Methodist Church.

His wife of 52 years, Alice R. Drown Glover, died in 1998.

In addition to his daughter, survivors include two sons, Arthur Glover of Tempe, Ariz., and Fred Glover of Milan; another daughter, Edith Fork of Mukwonago, Wis.; nine grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

Visitation is 6-9 p.m. EST Wednesdayat Laws-Carr-Moore Funeral Home, 707 S. Main St. in Milan. The funeral is 10 a.m. Thursday at Milan United Methodist Church, 306 S. Main St., followed by burial at Forest Hill Cemetery in Moores Hill.

Memorials: Milan Scholarship Foundation, P.O. Box 504, Milan, IN 47031; Ripley County Historical Society, P.O. Box 525, Versailles, IN 47042; or the Milan Volunteer Fire Department, P.O. Box 183, Milan, IN 47031.