Project 888
Name: William George STIER
Rank / Rating: S1-Seaman First ClassService #: 246 97 81 DOB: Sep 30, 1926 From: Philadelphia, PA Parents: William and Eleanor Stier Went Aboard: May 14, 1945 Age When Ship Went Down: 18 years, 10 months, 0 days Spouse: Children: Grandchildren: Bio Submitted By: Cindy Wilson |
 STIER, William G |
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My name is Cindy Wilson and my husband is Ray Wilson and we live near Rehoboth, Delaware. We have 3 children and a son who passed away in 2015. We have six grandchildren, four boys and two girls.
Our connection to USS Indianapolis CA-35 is through my mother, Dorothy Stier and her brother, my uncle, William G. Stier S1c who was lost at sea when Indianapolis was hit by a Japanese torpedo on July 30, 1945.
William “Billy” was born to William and Eleanor Stier on September 30, 1926, in Philadelphia, PA. He attended West Catholic boys’ school in Philadelphia. His mother Eleanor passed away when he was 5 years old. Billy and his sister, Dorothy (my mother) were given to an aunt as foster children. Dorothy worked in the Phila Naval Yard. Billy’s foster mother signed for him to enter the Navy at 17 years old. He went to the United States Naval Academy Training center in New York and to the Naval Training Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
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 His first tour of duty was at the NRS in Philadelphia from September 13, 1944, until he was called to active duty on October 27th, 1944. He boarded USS Indianapolis CA-35 on May 14, 1945, as a fire controlman. His sister Dorothy sent him a letter every day; he replied when he could. Sometimes he sent cartoons. Billy and his sister often talked about their friends and family. The last time she received a letter was the end of June 1945.
His foster mother Alice McGinnis was notified on August 12th, 1945, by telegram that the Navy deeply regretted that William G. Stier seaman first class USNR was missing in action on July 30th, 1945, in the service of his country. On August 23, 1945, Alice received a letter from Commander H.B Atkinson Officer in charge of casualty section that William G. Stier was still classified as missing in action. On October 8th, 1945, another letter was received which informed Alice McGinnis that William Stier previously reported as missing was now classified as having lost his life on July 30th, 1945, in the sinking of Indianapolis.
His sister, my mother, Dorothy was devastated by the passing of her brother; her only surviving blood relative.
As the years passed, Dorothy married and gave birth to two children: James and Cindy. Dorothy never talked much about her brother keeping things bottled up inside. As mom grew older, she began to talk about her brother being aboard Indianapolis. She agreed to go to a USS Indianapolis Survivors Reunion with me and my husband Ray in 2014. Two weeks prior to the reunion my mother had a massive stroke, was in hospice care at home and passed away at age 92 on July 13th, 2014. Her son James had passed away two years prior from pancreatic cancer.
After my mother’s death, I cleaned the home she had resided in for 65 years. In her closet I found a chest which contained all the letters from Billy and other items he had sent home.
While cleaning out my mom’s pocketbook, I found a pink piece of tissue paper with something inside. When I opened the tissue, I found a letter from a navy buddy who knew Billy. The letter was written by fellow shipmate Cleatus Lebow. Cleatus wrote that Billy’s nickname on the ship was “Red”, that they worked together, and that “he was a swell guy”. Cleatus wrote that he did not know where Red was when the ship was hit but no one saw Billy in the water, so he felt he was asleep and never knew anything thus dying instantly without suffering. Cleatus ended the letter saying how sorry he was and just wanted his mother to know that her son had died without suffering.
In July of 2018 Ray and I attended our first Survivor’s Reunion in Indianapolis, Indiana. At some point during the reunion, we saw Cleatus Lebow sitting on a chair surrounded by many family members. We introduced ourselves and proceeded to tell Cleatus and his family our story of the letter Cleatus wrote to Billy’s mom. Cleatus did not remember the letter and appeared to be a little disoriented by our story but seemed very interested. Cindy said to Cleatus “I have the letter you wrote. Shall I go get it in my room?” He said “Yes, please.”
Ray returned with the letter. Knowing that I could not read the letter without becoming very emotional, Ray sat next to Cleatus and proceeded to read the letter the best he could due to the frailty of the paper.
At one point reading the letter I said, “You called Billy “Red”. Cleatus’ eyes opened, he remembered, and said “Yes, that was my friend “Red”. I saw tears coming from his eyes. Everyone nearby was crying; it was hard for Ray to read the rest of the letter.
This moment was probably the most sad and emotional time we had ever encountered in our quest to find answers to Billy’s death. When we finished reading the letter, Cleatus turned the page of our family album which contained the letter. There was a picture of uncle Billy. We started to speak, and Cleatus said “There is my friend Red.” Someone started to talk, and he said “Be quiet and we need to bow our heads for my friend Red.”
William was honored in VOICES OF THE LOST AT SEA program in 2018.
Click on VOICES OF THE LOST AT SEA to view from Time Stamp 29:30 - 31:13.
The following (Photo left) is a picture of Cindy Wilson’s Uncle Billy and his sister, Dorothy (Cindy’s mother):
Next (below) is a copy of a letter that was sent by Survivor Cleatus Lebow to the family of LAS William G. Stier:
The following photo (In Photos) shows Cindy Wilson’s husband, Ray, kneeling beside Survivor Cleatus Lebow as he reads the original letter (above) that he had written to Red’s mother telling her that Red (William G. Stier) had died without suffering. Cleatus realized he knew Billy as his friend “RED”:
The following (In Photos) is a painting of a photo (commissioned by Cindy Wilson) which depicts Survivor Cleatus Lebow with his friend Red kneeling beside him. The letter in the left corner was written by Cleatus to Billy’s
family:
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