Interviewed by:

Mason Cornell and Lucien Seiser

I have the greatest respect for veterans, and the things that they’ve done,
and I'll support them, always...

I have tremendous respect for the flag ... and when I lived at Lally Boulevard,
I had a flagpole outside and I put it up every morning and I took it in at night.
I miss doing that."

~ William Cornell (22:19)

William Cornell's Story:

In his early life, Bill was very productive and hard working. He was an Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America, president of his class and ran a paper route from the age of seven to seventeen. Bill was generally regarded in his town as a very active member of the community.

This initiative in his early life carried over into Bill’s service, as he enlisted instead of being drafted. His intelligence shined through in his first few weeks of service, as he corrected the previously flawed food distribution system, where they divided food by number of regiments, not by the number of people in each one, and made it fair for all the regiments he directed. Along with this and multiple other situations that demonstrated his productivity, he was soon flying B24's and B29’s as the highest rank he could achieve, Master Sergeant. Bill regarded his service as a very important and influential to his life.

In his post-military life, Bill was very family oriented, always having family members around him. Along with his wife, a WASP member, he traveled the country in an RV with his family. To this day, the lessons Bill has learned from serving, such as how to handle stressful situation, are still in his skill set which he carries with him.