William John McKerness was born on March 5, 1895 in New York. He attended school in Connecticut and in 1916 served on the Mexican Boarder with the Connecticut National Guard. In 1917, he decided to join the war that was underway in Europe, sailing to France with the intent to join the Harvard Ambulance corps, but instead he became a member of the Service Aeronautique. He ultimately became an observer and machine-gunner with the Escadrille. He received the Croix de Guerre with Star after being wounded by German fighters during a mission in 1917. A year later, he lost his life when the French pilot of an aircraft in which was gunner was shot and killed during an attack by German Fokkers. The plane crashed and Sergeant McKerness, who was 22 years of age, was buried in a cemetery in Plessis-Gassot, Seine-et-Oise France. His body was exhumed and returned to the United States where it was reburied in Arlington National Cemetery on September 8, 1921.

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