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| Lt. William Williams and the crew of the B-26 Black Jack II. https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=83632240&ref=acom http://www.ww2buddies.com/BG394.html |
William J. Williams never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on November 1, 1917 in Illinois. His parents Roy and Nonie were also both born in Illinois. His father worked as a street car operator and later as a chauffeur. William had one younger sister. By 1940 William had completed four years of high school. He worked as a clerk while living with his parents and sister.
He enlisted in in the army in October 1941 and became an officer on February 13, 1943. William eventually became a first lieutenant in the 587th Bombardment Squadron, 394th Bombardment Group, 9th Air Force. Lt. Williams was a bombardier in B-26 Marauders. The 394th BG flew close air support missions to assist the American armies advance across France and into Germany. It was first based in England but was flying out of Cambrai, France in October 1944.
On February 25, 1945 Lt. Williams and the rest of his B-26 crewmates were part of a mission to bomb military installations at Colbe, Germany. His B-26, nicknamed Black Jack II, collided with another B-26 while the squadron was forming up. Both planes crashed near Marcoing, France. Only one man survived.
His grave is at Mount Greenwood Cemetery in Chicago.
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.
Join the public Facebook group WW2 Fallen 100
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