IDAHO FALLS — William Albert “Bill” Hulet, a 104-year-old World War II veteran from Idaho Falls, passed away on Feb. 7.

He was under the care of Enhabit Hospice at Lincoln Court Retirement Community, according to his obituary. His funeral was scheduled for Saturday.

In a conversation with EastIdahoNews.com, Hulet’s grandson, Stefan Wood, says Hulet was a “sweet, sweet man all the way up until his last breath.”

“He never complained, was always positive and good-spirited all the way to the end,” Wood says.

Hulet was an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served in the United States Army in Europe during World War II, where he interrogated German prisoners and earned the Bronze Star. He also served during the Korean War.

Wood describes his grandfather as a quiet guy with a “down-to-earth properness” and “positive energy.”

“Whenever he spoke, you felt edified by him,” says Wood. “He had a wonderful little chuckle. He would giggle and play off your funny comment. It was sweet and so fun.”

Hulet’s early life

Hulet was born on Oct. 11, 1921, to Vida Hill and Albert Franklin Hulet. He spent his early years in Twin Falls, then moved with his family to Driggs when he was 3. The family later moved to Victor, where he grew up and graduated from Victor High School.

Hulet attended Ricks College in Rexburg, where he was valedictorian of his class. During his high school and college years, he was active in band and choir.

He eventually earned a bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University and graduate degrees from the University of Washington and the University of Maryland.

Hulet shared some of his military experiences with EastIdahoNews.com in 2021. He told us then that he and his wife, Betty Mae Danks, who passed away in 2000, had only been married for a few weeks when he was drafted.

‘He’s a mormoner’

Throughout the war, Staff Sgt. Hulet spent time in France, Germany and Belgium, where he was assigned to Army intelligence to interrogate prisoners of war and write reports.

He recalled working with an infantry division in Malmedy, Belgium in 1944 during the Battle of the Bulge. An old building had been turned into a makeshift jail for those who had been captured.

“We’d take the prisoner, set him down and talk with him,” said Hulet. “People get the wrong vision sometimes that we’re all running around in a very formal way, pointing guns. That’s not true.”

Hulet said being held as a POW was more pleasant to the Germans than being in combat, and most of the captives felt some degree of relief to be there.

He remembered asking one young man where he’d been captured, to which the young man responded, “Up on the hillside in an orchard.”

The young soldier was part of an artillery unit, and he explained that they were under heavy American fire. He’d hidden in a hole to protect himself. When the crossfire ceased, the man crawled out and was surrounded at gunpoint by U.S. forces.

“About this time, he said to me, ‘I have an uncle in America,’” Hulet recalled.

“Where does your uncle live?” Hulet asked in response, expecting him to say something like New York or Pennsylvania. “This guy said, ‘Salt Lake City.’”

“What’s his religion?” Hulet asked him.

“He’s a mormoner (meaning Mormon),” the man responded in broken English.

Hulet later learned the young man was also a Latter-day Saint. Though the young soldier had no information useful to Hulet and his comrades, Hulet said their religious connection was significant to him, and he felt a desire to help him.

“I (wanted) to see him not get shot doing something foolish and I (told) him he’d be safe if he was careful, didn’t cause any trouble, and did what people asked him to do,” Hulet said.

The young man and many other captives were put on a truck the next morning and taken to a prison camp in France. Hulet and the young soldier never saw each other again.

Close to combat

While Hulet was never on the front lines, he says he was close to combat on multiple occasions. In Belgium, the house he was living in “had one corner shot off.” In another part of town, the officer in charge of his company and the man who worked with him were killed in a bomb explosion.

On another occasion in Germany, Hulet remembered the military police setting up a jail inside a school. Everyone who had lived in that community was gone, and Hulet and his team were there alone. They began to lay out their sleeping bags in a classroom to bed down for the night.

“There was a house across the street in good condition, except it had a big hole up at the top (where someone had shot at it). It was a lot warmer here than at the school, so several of us went and built a fire,” said Hulet.

One night, Hulet heard artillery fire outside the house. The shots gradually grew louder.

“I realized it was getting close, so I headed for the basement, and a shell landed in the backyard and blew a pine tree — just (boom), and it was gone,” he said. “I went back across the street, and a shell landed next to our school. All our sleeping bags were covered with glass. They’d blown all the windows out.”

The Red Ball Express

Several months after D-Day, Hulet and his unit were part of a convoy of trucks across France known as the Red Ball Express. They were hauling gasoline for the tanks at the front of the line.

When Hulet and his company caught up with their division, the line came to a halt.

“Somebody came back and said the fellow up front was following a bicycle. He saw the bicycle with a little light on the back and thought it was the person to follow,” said Hulet. “But now we were on the wrong road and had to find our way through a different (route).”

The convoy made its way up a series of cliffs to get back on track, he said. Once they started traveling on the main road again, it wasn’t long before the sound of machine-gun fire again brought everything to a halt. Hulet said they waited out a minor skirmish between the allies and the Germans.

“I got a coat up around me and went to sleep,” Hulet explained. “It seems the captain had gone to sleep too, and the people in front of us had driven away. So now we’re out there, and we’re leading the convoy, and I’m just really glad it wasn’t me.”

When the war ended, Hulet wasn’t sent home immediately. He and another member of his division were sent to replace mayors of towns throughout Germany who were Nazi supporters. He spent some time in Austria after that to help determine which of a group of German prisoners would be released.

He was discharged and sent home in October 1945.

Life after the war

After attending college, Hulet had a long career helping veterans with employment and related issues — first with the Idaho Employment Security Agency, and later as director of the U.S. Office of Veterans Affairs for Idaho.

He and his wife raised seven children in Boise. He moved to Idaho Falls 10 years after his wife’s passing in 2010.

Hulet has 31 grandchildren and 44 great-grandchildren. In a written tribute to Hulet in 2018, multiple family members praised him for his efforts as a husband, father and grandfather.

“He is such a gentle and loving soul,” Hulet’s granddaughter, Christina Doddroe, wrote. “I remember vividly a time when my feelings were so hurt by a loved one and he spoke to me with such kindness and empathy that I could not help but feel my heart soften and heal.”

Wood recalls catching his first fish with Hulet on a fishing trip and Wood “felt so proud.” As an adult, Wood says he spent a year getting to know his grandpa. Once a month, Hulet would tell him a story from his life and it’s an experience Wood still cherishes to this day.

Wood says his grandpa “had a goodness about him” and it’s his smile and positive energy he’s going to miss most.

“He would laugh at my cheesy jokes and play along. I loved that,” says Wood.

In addition to his wife, Hulet is preceded in death by his parents, and two sons, Michael and Barry.

The following is taken from a news release from the Mountain American Center.

IDAHO FALLS — Rolling Stone Magazine has announced the Brit Floyd – The World’s Premier Pink Floyd Experience 2026 world tour is making a stop in Idaho Falls at the Mountain America Center on Sunday, June 7, 2026, at 7 p.m. Tickets go on sale on Ticketmaster on Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, at 10 a.m.

About Brit Floyd

As Brit Floyd — “widely recognized as the world’s premier Pink Floyd experience” (Rolling Stone) — continues its successful 125 date “Wish You Were Here 50 Tour” world tour through Oct. 30, the group is already preparing to take its award-winning laser and light show, massive circular screen, inflatables and theatrical concert experience back on the road in 2026. Next year’s “The Moon, The Wall and Beyond” world tour will honor Pink Floyd’s “The Dark Side of the Moon” and “The Wall” albums and promises to be Brit Floyd’s most ambitious and immersive production to date. This monumental new production celebrates two of the most iconic and influential albums in rock history with a breathtaking show that captures the spirit, sound and spectacle of the legendary band.

The 2026 shows, which launched Feb. 9 in Canada, feature highlights from “The Dark Side of the Moon” and “The Wall,” including such timeless classics as “Time,” “Money,” “Comfortably Numb,” and “Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2.” Beyond these iconic songs, audiences can also expect a selection of fan favorites from Pink Floyd’s vast discography, including tracks from “Wish You Were Here” to “Animals” and many more.

The assembled band of musicians, whom audiences have come to love and respect worldwide over the years, will take to the stage to perform note-for-note renditions of all the classic Pink Floyd tracks. The Brit Floyd ensemble includes Brit Floyd’s long-time guitarist/lead vocalist and musical director Damian Darlington and bassist/lead vocalist Ian Cattell, along with the other expert musicians who’ve joined the ranks of Brit Floyd over the last decade. Expect special guests to pop in for shows along the tour route.

Since its formation, Brit Floyd has set the standard for tribute performances, delivering stadium-scale concerts that combine stunning musicianship, cutting-edge visuals and an unparalleled attention to detail. Having performed over 1,500 shows (in over 40 countries) since its launch in Liverpool, England, in January 2011, Brit Floyd has circled the globe, with sold-out tours across Europe, North America, South America, Asia and the Middle East. It has performed concerts at some of the world’s greatest venues, including London’s prestigious Royal Albert Hall; the awe-inspiring Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Denver, Colorado; the historic Greek Theatre in Los Angeles; and “The Showplace of the Nation,” NYC’s Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan. The Brit Floyd show has become a phenomenon, widely regarded by many as the world’s greatest rock tribute experience, and Brit Floyd has earned worldwide acclaim as the definitive live Pink Floyd experience.

The 2026 “The Moon, The Wall And Beyond” world tour will span North America and beyond. Visit www.britfloyd.com for the most up-to-date information.

About Mountain America Center

After opening in November 2022, the Mountain America Center is Eastern Idaho’s gateway for live entertainment! This community gem provides 27,000 square feet of event space within the arena space, along with an additional 11,000 square feet of meeting space in the Blue Cross of Idaho Conference Center. The Mountain America Center hosts the Idaho Falls Spud Kings, a USPHL Junior A ice hockey franchise, and hosts a multitude of unique events with the ability to seat 6,000 guests. Our venue has welcomed over 250,000 visitors through our doors in our first year of operation, and our dedicated staff strives to provide all guests with a unique and unforgettable experience with each visit. For more information about the Mountain America Center, visit www.mountainamericacenter.com