William “Billy” Kot: Such A Great Life

By Ginny Williamson, Honor Flight Chicago Veteran Interview Volunteer

Billy Kot was born in 1944 in Chicago, and lived there until the fifth grade.  In 1953, when he was nine-years-old, he and his family moved to Tinley Park.  He attended St. George Catholic School for grade school and Bremen High School.  He graduated from Bremen in 1962.

After high school, Billy worked at Marshall Fields and the Midlothian Country Club as a caddy.  He then got a call from TWA airlines to work as a mail clerk at their location on Wabash Avenue in Chicago.

In 1964, prior to being drafted, Billy met with an Air Force recruiter.  Billy wanted to be a radio guy.  The recruiter recognized that Billy was good with numbers and said that Billly would be better at an administrative job.  Billy didn’t want a desk job, so he didn’t join.  Then he was drafted by the Army in 1964.

He did about one year of training (eight weeks at Ft. Knox for basic training and then Ft. Story in Virginia for nine months) before being told he was going to Vietnam in 1965.  In 1965, President Johnson had a troop build-up.  Billy found out that his whole battalion was going to Vietnam.

They flew to Oakland to start the trip to Vietnam. From there, he and another 3,700 other troops boarded a World War II troop transport ship (which was only fitted to carry about 1,500 troops).  He recalls that as they left Oakland and passed under the Golden Gate Bridge, they all looked at it from a distance until they couldn’t see it anymore.  That’s when they realized, ‘We’re gone.  America’s gone’ as they sailed away.

It took 23 days to arrive in Vietnam, with one stop in Guam for rest and recuperation.   After they left Guam, they were hit by a typhoon.  Billy was one of the few who didn’t get sick.

From Guam, they went to the Philippines and then on to their first stop in Qui Nhon, Vietnam.  After dropping off some of the troops in Qui Nhon, they arrived in Cam Rahn Bay, where Billy was stationed for nine months.  While he was there, Billy traveled to Saigon and all over the country in a CV7 Caribou aircraft.  The Caribou could land and take off quickly which was good since they were being shot at.

For R&R, he was sent on a C130 Hercules aircraft to Tokyo, after a stop in DaNang.  (Too many stories to tell from his time in Tokyo.)  Billy went back to Tokyo 10 years after the war and went to the place he visited while he was on R&R.  He recalls that he had to drop his head as he entered, remembering that the Japanese were short.  He hasn’t returned to Vietnam.  He said that he was in such a remote part of Vietnam that he probably wouldn’t be able to recognize it now.

After his R&R in Japan, Billy came back to Vietnam but passed on going to Vung Tau.  He said he passed on that so he “could go home alive.” Vung Tau had been mortared the month before. In Vietnam, the temperature reached to about 125 degrees.  Billy’s mom sent him a mercury thermometer that only went up to 120 degrees, so he never really knew how hot it was in Vietnam.

They slept in open-air tents and there were predators that would come into their tents. One morning, there was a 15-foot python that came near his tent where Billy was sleeping.  It could have gotten into his cot and wrapped itself around Billy.   To this day, Billy is afraid of snakes, even with the nickname they gave him in Vietnam of ‘the Snake.’

He remembers a care package that his mom sent him.  The rats got into all that food, so Billy had to throw all that food away; he never had a chance to eat any of it.  One evening he woke up to a rat crawling up his leg.  This was the “first airborne rat in Vietnam.”

Billy remembers a close call when they heard that the Viet Cong planted a mine close to Billy and his guys in the tent.  They buried the mine too low in the water, so it didn’t have the effect that the Viet Cong had hoped.

Christmas of 1965 was memorable for Billy. At that time, the North Vietnamese were threatening to attack and overrun them.  They heard that Bob Hope was coming with his group of entertainers (including Joey Heatherton) to perform for the troops for Christmas.  So, the South Korean Marines were on guard for them so they could go see Bob Hope.  Seeing Bob Hope and his entourage was one of the biggest thrills for Billy in Vietnam.

Billy was a Ration Breakdown Specialist at headquarters.  He had to figure out how much of each ration of meat, vegetables, etc. each company would get.  Billy was good with numbers, and after deciding he didn’t want a desk job that the Air Force was suggesting, he ended up with a desk job in Vietnam with the Army.  He recognized that “going to headquarters is probably what saved me.  If I was a jungle man, I may not be here now.”

When they left Vietnam to return to the States, they first went to Japan and then on to Alaska.  It took 23 days to travel to Vietnam, and 23 hours to travel back to the States.  Many of the guys were sick due to the temperature change:  125 degrees in Vietnam, to 35 degrees in Alaska.

From Alaska, they went to McQuire Airforce Base in New Jersey.  When they landed in New Jersey, everyone screamed, so excited to be back on US territory. Two years after he returned from Vietnam, Billy learned that Cam Rahn Bay was overrun in 1968 during the Tet Offensive.

Billy’s father was a World War II vet; he served in Europe.  Three of his brothers also served: his oldest brother in the Army for two years in Germany; another brother served four years in the Navy; and another brother who served two years in the Army, mostly at Ft. Lewis in Washington and also went on maneuvers in Alaska.  Billy and his father were the only family members who were in combat zones.

Billy still has dreams about those days in Vietnam, but he is glad to be home. “How did I survive.”  For his service, Billy received the National Defense Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal and the Good Conduct Medal.

When Billy got home, he went to work for Eastern Airlines working as a gate agent at O’Hare Airport.  He was a gate agent for 13 years and loved every second of it.  After 22 years at Eastern Airlines, Billy then worked for GE for another 13 years.  But he didn’t really retire from ‘working.’

A NEW CAREER

In 2005, Bill started his acting career.  Acting wasn’t something that he was planning to do after he retired; it sprung up on him all of a sudden.

His first acting role was in Prison Break.  He was recommended by a friend to talk with an agent.  He started as a sound technician and then was asked to be in a scene as a business man.  He worked for three months on the set as an inmate at Joliet prison.  Then he took a role as the ‘psycho man.’

A highlight of his acting career came when he got a role on The Dark Knight.  The role was that of a commander of Gotham City who leads a parade.  The scene was going to be with Heath Ledger, the lead actor as the Joker in the film.  He knew his acting career was going to take off when he was asked how he looked so good in uniform.  Billy told them he was a soldier in Vietnam.  And they told him he is exactly who they were looking for.

“Who the hell are you?” he was often asked by one of the Gotham City cops, because he started getting attention from the stars of the movie.  Others didn’t know if he was already famous and had been acting for awhile since Billy had that ‘look’.  “I guess you could say I’m a natural.”

He had several scenes in the movie, and had a chance to meet Heath Ledger as well as Aaron Eckhart.  Heath Ledger actually made physical contact with Billy, on accident, during a rehearsal scene.  Aaron Eckhart tapped him on the shoulder and wanted to take a picture with him because he said Billy looked very distinguished in his role.  It was a very tiring day because it took the crew 16 hours to do the scene on LaSalle Street in Chicago.

Billy’s luck on the set of The Dark Knight faded, though. He was in a scene where he was knocked heavily into the street by the onrush of cops, and he stayed there for until the scene was over.  Billy heard the ambulance coming to take care of him.  As a result, Billy had bruised ribs and a bruised wrist from the fall. Unfortunately, Billy was told by the director of the movie that they couldn’t use him in scenes any longer because of his injuries.  He was disappointed because his next scene would have been with the Joker who was going to blow up a hospital with dynamite.

Billy spent the next three months recuperating at home.  Just when he was getting better, Billy got a phone call from the directors of the movie Transformers: The Dark of the Moon.  He was given the opportunity to drive a stunt car; the directors didn’t want to pay Hollywood stunt driver rates for this scene.  He knew it was good luck to be chosen out of so many other actors who auditioned for the role.

Some other acting roles Billy has had (movie and TV) include:  Contagion, Wanted, Just Like a Woman, Public Enemies, ER, Prison Break, Shameless, Chicago Fire, and Chicago PD.  For his 10 different roles as a character actor in the pilot of Ride Along and the show Chicago Code starring Jennifer Beals, Billy had the honor to walk the red carpet for Fox Television.

CONTINUING TO SERVE

Billy’s father talked him into joining the VFW; he has been a member for almost 60 years.  He is also a Service officer, Color guard and Honor guard for the American Legion for the city of Orland Park.  He stands guard at the casket of veterans at their funeral service and he also fires a 21-gun salute at various local cemeteries for fallen veterans.  Billy was honored with Legionnaire of Year from the Village of Tinley Park in 2026.

If you are driving through Oak Lawn, you might see Billy’s picture on one of the many banners that are displayed in town.  This is the second time he’s had the honor and privilege of having a banner.

Billy also has a love for travel and adventure.  It is one of his favorite things to do. He’s been to over 38 different countries and 45 different states in the U.S.  He’s been on an African safari – almost lost his life a couple of times as he was taking pictures of cape buffalo and hippos.

He’s traveled the Amazon – where they were held up for two or three hours by river pirates from the area. (He later learned that there were cannibals in the area also.)  The river pirates let them go but took all of their food, cigarettes, booze and many other things they had with them on the trip.  As scared as he was, Billy said it was a once in a lifetime experience because not many people can say they were commandeered by river pirates in the Amazon.  “Traveling has been one of my favorite things just because of how different life is for everybody and how beautiful the world is.”

Billy shared that he has had such a great life, a life that some people can only dream of:  traveling to all the places he’s been to, working with all the movie stars, his military service, and the amazing people he has met along the way.  “That’s why I’m very happy.”  And he has such a love for his family, friends, and brother and sister service members.

Billy is excited to be going on Honor Flight. He will be joined by his niece Natalie at Midway, and then his Goddaughter, Stephanie will meet Billy and Natalie when they arrive in Washington, D.C.  Stephanie will be the guardian for Billy’s ‘buddy’, Paul.  Billy is so happy to have his two favorite people joining him for this trip.  He knows that there are many other veterans who feel they don’t deserve to go, or can’t go because of health reasons.  “I’m proud. I’m happy.  There are many more veterans than me who deserve it.’

Billy loves being part of the generation of veterans.  “We’re lucky enough to come home to our families and we are so blessed because not all of us get to come home.”  He considers all his service veterans brothers and sisters.  “We all survived the war, and we respect each other the most.”  It’s been difficult to stay in touch with all his brothers and sisters since they were all over the United States.  Billy said it was sad to leave them because of how much time they had spent together.  “They had made a tremendous impact on my life and I will never forget them or the bond we all had.”

“I never considered myself a hero, but I know a lot heroes.”

Welcome aboard, Billy. Enjoy your day of honor.  And thank you so very much for your years of service.