Billy G. Ray, a World War II Army Air Corps B-24 pilot, successfully flew forty-nine missions. He was shot down on his fiftieth mission in 1944 and remained a prisoner of war in Germany until his release in 1945, shortly before V.E. Day.

Ray helped organize the Chappell Development Committee to develop the local airport, recreation area, and golf course in Chapell, Nebraska. In 1985, the Chappell VFW Post 7002 honored him with the Degree of Honor in Service and Citizenship for service to country and community. Ray became a licensed pilot in 1942 and continued to fly his plane into his eighties.

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