Yarborough, William Pelam, born 12-05-1912 in Seattle, Washington,
the son of Colonel Leroy W. Yarborough and Addessia Yarborough. He attended high school at San Rafael Military Academy in California
and later at Columbus, Georgia. In 1931, Yarborough enlisted in the U.S. Army, obtaining an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy a year later in 1932. At his graduation from West Point in June 1936 Yarborough was sworn in as a second lieutenant by General of the Armies John Joseph Pershing.
He was assigned to the 57th Infantry, Philippine Scouts at Fort McKinley, Luzon where he remained until February 1940, when he was transferred to the 29th Infantry Regiment at Fort Benning, Georgia. He joined the newly formed 501st Parachute Battalion, nickname “Geronimo”
in late 1940 and was given command of Company “C”.
Later, as Test Officer for the Provisional Parachute Group in 1941, he designed the paratrooper’s boot, the paratrooper’s uniform,
the parachutist’s qualification badge,
and a number of aerial delivery containers for which he received U. S. patents. Yarborough first met his future wife, Norma Tuttle Yarborough (1918–1999), when she was 12 and he was 18. At the time, they were neighbors when their fathers were stationed at Fort Benning. They became reacquainted when the two families were next door neighbors at Plattsburgh Barracks in New York. In 1936 she was crowned “Miss Topeka. In July 1942, Major Yarborough was selected by General Mark “Contraband” Clark
to be his Airborne Advisor and in that capacity accompanied General Clark to England. As a working member of the London Planning Group, he developed the initial concept and plan for the airborne phase of the North African Invasion. When the Paratroop Task Force departed Land’s End, England on 07-11-1942, Yarborough as executive officer accompanied it on its flight over Spain toward its target objectives in Algeria. This was the longest operational flight ever made by parachute troops. In the course of the ensuing action the airplane in which he was flying was shot down by Vichy French (see Phillipe Petain)
fighter aircraft over the Sebkra d’Oran. He participated in combat operations to capture Tafaroui Airdrome in Algeria. A week later, Yarborough parachuted into Youks les Bains Airfield near Tebessa, Algeria, near the Tunisian border and fighting as part of a combined French and U.S. Paratroop Task Force in Tunisia until January 1943, when he returned to the United States. In March 1943, Yarborough returned to North Africa as Commander of the 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment
, 82nd Airborne Division
, later under James “Slim Jim” Gavin


























Death and burial ground of Yarborough, William Pelam.



Yarborough succumbed to complications following a broken hip on 06-12-2002. He is buried with his wife Norma Mae, who died age 81, on 24-07-1999, on the Arlington National Cemetery, Section 4.
