William George Arrott was born September 28, 1916 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Colin Arrott and Almedia F. Hand. His parents were married in either 1916 or 1920 depending on whether Ancestry marriage records or his mother's obituary are correct. He was an only child and he moved with his mother to Utica, NY when he was a young boy. He attended Roscoe Conkling School and was a member of St. Francis De Sales Church. The 1940 US Census recorded him living on Blandina St. in Utica with him mom and working as a laborer in “forestry.” That same Census recorded he complete 3 years of high school. Newspapers of the day reported that he graduated from Utica Free Academy in 1940 (this seems unlikely given that he would have been 23 years old in 1940) and was employed by Roach and Quinn Restaurant. Those same newspapers also reported he served for four years with the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC).

He enlisted in the Army on June 25, 1940 through Binghamton, NY and was trained at Fort Benning, Georgia. His service number was 7070484. He went overseas in 1942 and fought with the 16th Infantry in North Africa and Sicily before being sent to England for rest and refitting. In October 1943 he was reduced in grade from T/4 (Sgt) to Pvt. On June 6, 1944 the 16th Infantry landed in the first wave on Omaha Beach during D-Day. There was no shortage of heroes that day. Pvt. Arrott is counted among them. His landing craft was destroyed as it approached the beach, killing many of the men in his company. His Bronze Star citation noted that after his landing craft was destroyed he swam ashore and picked up a rifle from a fallen soldier to join a group who courageously fought against a numerically superior force and intense fire. He was killed later that day when he attacked an enemy machine gun nest single handedly. He was awarded the Purple Heart Medal and the Bronze Star Medal posthumously.

That August (1945) his mother received his Bronze Star Medal at her home on Blandina St. in Utica. First Lt. Lawrence R. Gunter, provost marshall of Utica did the honors. Pvt. Arrott was initially buried in the St. Laurent Cemetery which today is known as the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer, France. Later, in 1948, under the government's body recovery program his remains were returned home escorted by members of the Ft. Schuyler Post 1290, America Legion. He was buried on April 14, 1948 in the Crown Hill Memorial Park Cemetery in Clinton, NY will full military honors. For years afterward, every June 6, his mom ran a classified in local papers in his memory. In 1979 she passed and was buried with him at Crown Hill.

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project. This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 421,000+ of the US WWII fallen on Together We Served and Fold3.

(Please see - http://www.storiesbehindthestars.org).

Can you help us write these stories? Together We Served and Fold3/Find A Grave have smartphone apps that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery and read these stories of WWII fallen.

If you noticed anything erroneous in this profile or have additional information to contribute, please contact Jim Greenberg at jim.greenberg@oneonta.edu.

SBTSProject/New York/Oneida

Sources

16th Infantry Regiment Association website at https://16thinfassn.org/ accessed on September 20, 2025.

"11 War Dead of Rome Area Reach N.Y., Daily Sentinel, Rome, NY, March 30, 1948.

"18 Area War Dead Due in U.S. This Week", Utica Daily Press, Utica, NY, pg. 10, March 31, 1948.

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/161032050/william_george-arrott: accessed September 17, 2025), memorial page for PVT William George Arrott (27 Sep 1917–6 Jun 1944), Find a Grave Memorial ID 161032050, citing Crown Hill Memorial Park, Clinton, Oneida County, New York, USA; Maintained by Jeff Hall (contributor 47296194).

Joining Uncle Sam's Army (picture) in June 26, 1940 Binghamton Press, pg. 8.

National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 64: Series: Morning Reports, 1940-1946: NAID: 85713825: U.S. Army Morning Reports 

"Posthumous Award Made", Utica Daily Press, Utica, NY, Aug 10, 1945, pg. 13.

"Rites Planned for Pvt. Arrott", Utica Daily Press, Utica, NY, pg. 12, April 12, 194? [last digit in year illegible].

Year: 1940; Census Place: Utica, Oneida, New York; Roll: m-t0627-02861; Page: 6A; Enumeration District: 67-51

Supporting Documents

Various Morning Reports He Appeared In 

Below are a series of Morning Reports for Company I, 16th Infantry from June 1, 1944 until June 10, 1944