Millard William Hayden was born on October 3, 1918, in Senora, Lancaster County, Virginia. He resided in Baltimore, Maryland, prior to the war. He enlisted in the Army on September 12, 1941, prior to the war, in Baltimore, Maryland. He was noted, at the time of his enlistment, as being employed in a sawmill and also as Single, without dependents.

Millard served in Company E, 2nd Ranger Battalion, as a Staff Sergeant during World War II. He was Killed in Action on June 6, 1944, at the age of 25, at Pointe du Hoc, during the American assault on Omaha and Utah beaches in France. SSgt Hayden is now buried in the Corrottoman Baptist Church Cemetery, Ottoman, Lancaster County, Virginia, USA.