Billy Don't Be a Hero to ride out and seek reinforcements. (This suggests mounted infantry and a lack of modern two-way radio communications.) In the end, the heartbroken woman throws away the official letter notifying her of Billy's "heroic" death. Paper Lace's version of "Billy Don't Be a Hero" reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart on 16 March 1974, and did likewise in Australia, where it spent eight weeks at the top spot. Thereafter, Bo Donaldson's and the Heywoods's version reached No. 1 in the U.S. on the "Billboard" Hot 100 on 15 June 1974, but was dubbed into French for Canada. The
George A. Hero was twenty he joined the cotton firm Robinson and Hero, and later owned and operated the business under his own name. In 1889 Lehman, Stern and Company hired him to run its cotton futures department. When the company incorporated in 1896, he became its vice president. Hero retired from the cotton business in 1912. He owned a derelict plantation on the west bank of the Mississippi River. Canals dug there during the early 19th century in order to grow sugar and cotton had degraded after the Civil War, and the swampy land was almost worthless. Hero's neighbors showed no interest