William J. Bradley was born in 1913 in Lee County, Illinois. He was the son of James Bradley and James Bradley. He served in the 37th Tank Battalion, 4th Armored Division as a Private First Class during World War II.

On December 06, 1944, 2Lt Farese was moving up with his tank on the hillside south of Singling. He turned left into an orchard but as his tank topped the crest of a slight rise just south of a stone farm yard wall, it was hit three times by armor piercing shells and immediately was set on fire. Lieutenant Farese and his loader, Pfc. William J. Bradley, were killed. The gunner, Cpl. Hulmer C. Miller, was slightly wounded. The rest of the crew got out.

The shells that hit them were probably from a Mark V tank which was parked beside a stone barn, though they may have come from a towed 75-mm antitank gun in the same general vicinity. In any case, what they had run into was a nest of enemy armor and defensive emplacements—a perfect defensive position which the enemy used to the fullest.

PFC Bradley is now buried in the Lorraine American Cemetery, Saint-Avold, France.

Source of information: https://history.army.mil/books/wwii/smallunit/smallunit-singling.htm, www.findagrave.com, www.abmc.gov