When Walter J. Will was born in 1923 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, his father, John, was 44 and his mother, Theresa, was 38. He had two brothers and two sisters. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II as a First Lieutenant in the 18th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division. He was awarded the CMOH for his bravery near Eisern, Germany, on March 30, 1945. His citation reads "He displayed conspicuous gallantry during an attack on powerful enemy positions. He courageously exposed himself to withering hostile fire to rescue 2 wounded men and then, although painfully wounded himself, made a third trip to carry another soldier to safety from an open area. Ignoring the profuse bleeding of his wound, he gallantly led men of his platoon forward until they were pinned down by murderous flanking fire from 2 enemy machineguns. He fearlessly crawled alone to within 30 feet of the first enemy position, killed the crew of 4 and silenced the gun with accurate grenade fire. He continued to crawl through intense enemy fire to within 20 feet of the second position where he leaped to his feet, made a lone, ferocious charge and captured the gun and its 9-man crew. Observing another platoon pinned down by 2 more German machineguns, he led a squad on a flanking approach and, rising to his knees in the face of direct fire, coolly and deliberately lobbed 3 grenades at the Germans, silencing 1 gun and killing its crew. With tenacious aggressiveness, he ran toward the other gun and knocked it out with grenade fire. He then returned to his platoon and led it in a fierce, inspired charge, forcing the enemy to fall back in confusion. 1st Lt. Will was mortally wounded in this last action, but his heroic leadership, indomitable courage, and unflinching devotion to duty live on as a perpetual inspiration to all those who witnessed his deeds." His Medal was posthumously awarded to him on October 17, 1945. He is a Medal of Honor recipient for World War II. He is now buried in Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial, Margraten, Eijsden-Margraten Municipality, Limburg, Netherlands and has a marker in Saint Joseph's Cemetery, West Winfield, Herkimer County, New York, USA.

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