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through the Faubus Era (1941 - 1967) / Darby, William Orlando
Brigadier General William Orlando Darby, born in western
Arkansas, is best known for his organization of the First Ranger
Battalion during World War II. He was known as an exemplary
leader in combat, and he always led his men into battle. Bill
Darby was born on February 8, 1911, in Fort Smith (Sebastian
County). His father, Percy Darby, owned a print shop, and his
mother, Nell, was a homemaker. He had a younger sister named
Doris. Darby attended Belle Grove School through the sixth grade
and then went to Fort Smith Senior High School. After his
graduation in 1929, he received an appointment to West Point
Military Academy, where he served as a cadet company commander.
He graduated from West Point with a BS on June 13, 1933. He was
commissioned as a second lieutenant and assigned to the First
Battalion, Eighty-second Field Artillery of the First Cavalry,
the only mounted artillery unit in th