William enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces on
December 8, 1942. He had been in the reserves while in college.
After training as a gunner on B-17 Flying Fortresses,
William was shipped overseas to England to join the famous 8th Air
Force also known as “The Mighty Eighth.”
William served in the air war over Europe from June 28, 1944
to May 5, 1945. He was assigned to the 457th Bomb Group, 748th
Bomber Squadron at Glatton England.
During his time with the 748th, that squadron flew
many missions over occupied Europe including France and Germany. The Luftwaffe was not entirely beaten the
summer of 1944, and the squadron faced heavy opposition from planes as well as
deadly 88mm anti-aircraft fire. The desperate Luftwaffe even took a page from
the Japanese training manuals and began ramming B-17’s and B-24’s over Germany.
The only difference was that, theoretically, the German pilot was supposed to
bail out of his aircraft just before the ramming. Sometimes it worked, most of
the time the pilot was killed.
The 748th flew a total of 236 missions before the
war’s end.
William was discharged on July 6, 1945 with the rank of
Staff Sergeant. He was awarded the EAME Campaign medal with 4 Bronze Stars as
well as the Air Medal with 4 Oak Leaf clusters.
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