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TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Billy Waugh led a life that sounds like a spy novel.
On Tuesday, his career was remembered by some of the nations top Military commanders at MacDill Air Force Base.
Waugh passed away in April, after spending more than five decades in the service.
Major General Pat Roberson, the Deputy Commanding Officer at U.S. Special Operations Command spoke about one night of combat for Waugh in In Bình Định province in 1965.
“Throughout that night, combat, hand to hand combat, air strikes, gun fights, 19 hours of fighting,” Roberson said.
Waugh was presented with a Silver Star for his heroism that night. He also earned a Purple Heart after suffering a severe wound to his leg. Waugh earned eight Purple Hearts over seven years of combat in Vietnam.
After his combat service, Waugh then joined the CIA and was instrumental in gathering key information that led to the arrest of Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, better known as Carlos the Jackal.
Several years later, he helped track another international terrorist.
“Then there was Bin Laden. In early 1992, Billy started surveilling Bin Laden,” said Retired C.I.A. operative Enrique Prado.
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Prado told the people at the memorial service that Waugh often used creative methods to track people he was assigned to follow.
Retired U.S. Army Colonel and Special Forces leader Jerry King once led a unit that Waugh served in.
“From a command point of view, he was a hard guy to keep under control,” said King, who added that when things were bad, Waugh is a person you wanted on your team.
“He had a desire to go forward, he always looked for action, you could depend on him,” said King.
Much later in life, after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, Waugh once again asked to be sent into harms way. This time, commanders were reluctant. By this time, Waugh was 72 years old.
However, the retired Sergeant Major would not give up, and he was sent to Afghanistan, where he followed young Special Forces operators into a helicopter and to the front of the fight.
“I think our Good Father above saw a need and he sent down to earth this guy names Billy Waugh to do one thing and one thing only and that was to be America’s soldier,” said retired U.S. Army Lt. General John Mulholland.
“This is a man who is a giant in our formation. He’s a giant in an organization that is full of giants. He stood out,” said General Roberson.
