Billy Don't Be a Hero Billy Don't Be a Hero "Billy Don't Be a Hero" is a 1974 pop song that was first a UK hit for Paper Lace and then, some months later, a US hit for Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods. The song was written and composed by two British songwriters, Mitch Murray and Peter Callander. Because the song was released in 1974, it was associated by some listeners with the Vietnam War, though the war to which it actually refers is never identified in the lyrics. It has been suggested that the drum pattern, references to a marching band leading soldiers in
Don T. Griswold The "Evarts"-class short-hull destroyer escort USS Griswold (DE-7) was named for him and launched in 1943. Don T. Griswold Ensign Don T. Griswold, Jr., (8 July 1917 – 6 June 1942) was a United States Naval Aviator, who was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions during the Battle of Midway. Born in Bryan, Texas, he attended Iowa State and after graduation joined the Naval Aviation Corps. During the Battle of Midway, 6 June 1942, his Douglas SBD-3 "Dauntless" scout-bomber scored a hit on a Japanese ship but was hit by antiaircraft fire and plunged into the sea.