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| Lt. William Williamson was B-26 Marauder bombardier. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/33503791/william-mertens-williamson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Martin_B-26_Marauder_operators |
William Mertens Williamson never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on October 17, 1918 in Pennsylvania. His parents William and Agnes were also both born in Pennsylvania. His paternal grandparents were from Scotland and his maternal grandparents were from Belgium. His father worked as a coal miner. William had one older sister, one younger brother, and three younger sisters. He married Virginia Ethel Pubar on March 17, 1937. By 1940 William had completed four years of high school and moved to Detroit, Michigan where he worked as an inspector.
He enlisted in the army on January 24, 1940. He divorced Ethel in May. He volunteered to serve in the Army Air Corps and qualified for flight school where he was trained to be a bombardier. He became a 2nd lieutenant in the 398th Bombardment Squadron, 21st Bombardment Group, which was equipped with B-26 Marauders. Training included a period of time based at MacDill Field in Florida.
He remarried Virginia on April 25, 1942. They had two sons.
On May 31, 1943 Lt. Williamson and his crew where practicing instrument flying with a hooded cockpit during a heavy electrical rain storm. His plane crashed near Bradentown, Florida. All five men on board were killed.
His grave is at Roseland Park Cemetery in Berkley, Michigan. His widow remarried after the war and died in 1991.
RITA HAYWORTH
Born on the same day as William Williamson was Margarita Cansino in New York. Raised in a family of dancers, she performed on Broadway at the age of five. Her father moved the family to California hoping her dancing could be featured in films but it never panned out during her childhood. She got some minor roles in the 1930s but her career did not take off until she changed her name to Rita Hayworth (her mother's maiden name).
Hayworth became one of the most popular movie actresses of the 1940s and became the top pin-up girl among WW2 GIs.
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| https://movieposters.ha.com/itm/movie-posters/miscellaneous/rita-hayworth-by-bob-landry-columbia-1941-pinup-photo-11-x-14-/a/7060-83347.s |
Last year on this date I profiled B-17 ball turret gunner William Whitt. You can read about William here.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
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