William C. “Bill” McGinley, 87, of Sardis recounts his experience with the U.S. Air Force during World War II to the Saline County History of Heritage Society at their meeting on Thursday evening. McGinley is a 1941 graduate of Bryant High School. He joked he only graduated because he helped repair the principal’s car. “A week after graduation I was in the Air Force,” McGinley said. He served with the 392nd Bomb Group, the 579 Bomb Squadron and the 8th Air Force in Europe from 1943-1945. Through the talk, McGinty stressed how lucky he was to have escaped many near-death experiences, especially one ill-fated flight over the English Channel in which he and one other fellow soldier survived.