Bastrop's post office dedicated to local war hero Billy D. Waugh

The U.S. post office in downtown Bastrop has been dedicated to the late retired Army Sgt. Maj. Billy D. Waugh, one of the city's native sons who as a soldier in the early 1950s fought in Korea and as a CIA contractor a half-century later was deployed to Afghanistan as part of the hunt for Osama bin Laden. Inbetween, he became a legendary and decorated member of the Army's elite Green Berets.

"I’m amazed and inspired by the longevity of his service, which included time in the Special Forces, where he earned eight Purple Hearts, the Central Intelligence Agency, and even the United States Postal Service," U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul said during the dedication ceremony Tuesday in the city 34 miles east of Austin. "Throughout his impressive career, he never lost his sense of duty, his patriotism or his enduring love of freedom."

Waugh, who at 15 sought unsuccessfully to enlist in the Army during World War II, died April 4, 2023, at 92. In December, Congress approved the dedication of the post office on Bastrop's Main Street to him.

McCaul, a 10-term Republican who represents Bastrop, presided over the ceremony and called Waugh "a great American hero."

According to his obituary in Military Times, Waugh also was the recipient of Silver Star, four Bronze Stars and more than a dozen Army Air Medals, plus several other honors for his service. In the 1950s, he became one of the first members of the Green Berets. The obituary described Waugh as "the unparalleled godfather of the Green Berets."

After several deployments to Vietnam, Waugh retired from the Army in 1972 and returned to Texas and went to work for the U.S. Postal Service. His career there, however, proved to be short.

"After nearly twenty years in (special forces), much of it in combat, sorting mail doesn't scratch the same itch," he wrote in "Hunting the Jackal," his 2005 autobiography, "a reference to his role in the effort to take down the South American terrorist known as "Carlos the Jackal." "Not even close."

A few years later, according to Military Times, Waugh joined the CIA and served for 30 years, including tours of duty in Libya, the Marshall Islands and the Sudan.

After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Waugh volunteered to serve in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. He was 72.

"I ... had been at war against terror for quite some time," Waugh said in his autobiography. "To me, Operation Enduring Freedom was a natural extension of the work I'd been conducting for close to fifty years."

Waugh's fascination with military service was deep-rooted.

He was inspired to seek enlistment in the Army at age 15 after meeting two combat veterans during World War II. Thinking he'd have a better chance fooling the military in California than in Texas, he set out for the West Coast as a hitchhiker.

He got as far as Las Cruces, New Mexico. Broke and with no form of identification, he was arrested and later wired home for bus fare back to Texas. In a 2023 interview with RecoilTV, Waugh said his mother laid down the law. He'd finish high school before there'd be any more talk of joining the Army. And after graduating in June 1948, he did just that.

After getting his first taste of combat in Korea, Waugh knew he had chosen the right career.

"For the first time in my life," he would later write, "I felt completely at home."