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| Captain William Frye was a C-47 pilot for the 436th Troop Carrier Group. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/49923879/william-miller-frye https://www.wikiwand.com/en/436th_Operations_Group |
He was born on September 17, 1919 in Wardensville, West Virginia. His parents William and Hilda were also both born in West Virginia. His father worked as a farm manager and later as a general store manager. Still later he was a merchant. William Jr. had three younger brothers and two younger sisters. By 1940 William was living at home and had competed one year of college and worked as a clerk. At some point he married Lorraine Johnson.
He enlisted in the Army in February 1942. He volunteered for the Army Air Forces, was accepted to flight school, and was trained as a C-47 pilot. He reached the rank of captain and flew for the 81st Troop Carrier Squadron, 436th Troop Carrier Group. On D-Day, the 436th TCG transported the 101st Airborne to Normandy. That evening it returned and towed in gliders from the 82nd Airborne. A month after that it towed in gliders for Operation Dragoon, the invasion of Southern France. In September it brought in troops and gliders of the 101st Airborne Division for Operation Market Garden in Holland. Captain Frye likely participated in all of these actions.
On March 24, 1945 Captain Frye piloted a C-47 towing two gliders across the Rhine as part of Operaton Varsity. His plane was shot down by enemy fire as it approached the landing zone and Captain Frye was killed.
His grave is at Wardensville Cemetery in Wardensville, West Virginia. His widow remarried and died in 2002.
Last year on this date I profiled artillery officer Norris Gee. You can read about Norris and his brother Richard 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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