William F. Watlington, Jr., grandson of Frank W. Watlington, grew up in Pinson, Tennessee, where his father operated a store and was a principal officer in the bank. When he completed high school in the 1930's he volunteered for service in the U.S. Army. He later was able to follow his inclination for mechanical work in the care of motors in the U.S. Army Air Corps. He re-enlisted and then stayed with the armed services throughout World War II. He was a corporal, Army Air Corps Technician #14-001-251. He served in the European, African and Middle East Theatres, in the Asiatic Pacific theater, and with the American Defense as a pre-War soldier.
His Army Air Corps technical training was later supplemented by other diesel engineering studies and served him well as he followed a career in aircraft maintenance with the growing Delta Airlines, starting in Memphis and transferring later to their terminals in Miami, Fla., and Atlanta, Ga.