William Thomas "Bill" Williams was born in Port Matilda, Pa. but his parents relocated to Tyrone, Pa. shortly afterwards, as his father was working on the Tipton Reservoir project. Bill graduated from Warrior's Mark High School in 1937 and began driving over-the-road truck with his dad. He was part of a group of drivers from Port Matilda that helped Eldon Studebaker start Continental Transportation Lines in Bedford, Pa. in 1939 and was one of the first freight haulers on the newly opened Pa. Turnpike in 1940. He joined the Army Air Corps after the attack on Pearl Harbor and left for active duty on January 2, 1942. He was trained as an Airplane Armorer and was ultimately sent to Karachi, India to join the newly formed 14th Air Force's "Flying Tigers" under Gen. Claire Chennault in 1943, a carry-over from the famous AVG. He volunteered for the Chinese-American-Composite-Wing to train Chinese ground personnel on the P-40 Warhawk fighter plane, and was attached to the 28th Fighter Squadron, 3rd Fighter Group of the CACW. He was killed when the Chinese Air Force C-47 transport plane he was a passenger in crashed while flying over "The Hump" of the Himalaya Mountains. He was listed as Missing in Flight and later Missing in Action. The wreckage of the plane or remains of any of the 18 passengers were never found. He was declared dead on December 15, 1945 as reflected on his marker, which was put in place in 1959. His name is also inscribed on the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial for WWII casualties in the Philippines.

Sgt Williams was one of over 2000 Americans who lost their lives defending China from their Japanese invaders from 1941-1945. He is also commemorated on the The Monument to the Aviation Martyrs in the War of Resistance Against Japan in Nanjing, China.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.abmc.gov