William Wesley Spofford, Jr. was born in 1919 in Brooklyn, Kings County (Brooklyn), New York. He was the son of William Wesley Spofford and Lillian E. Spofford. He resided in Queens County, New York prior to the war. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps on January 21, 1942 at Mitchel Field, Hempstead, Long Island, New York. He was noted, at the time of his enlistment, as being employed as a Electrician and also as Single, without dependents. William served as a First Lieutenant and Co-Pilot on C-87 #43-30614, 1327th Army Air Force Base Unit, U.S. Army Air Force during World War II.

C-87 #43-30614, took off, with a crew of 4, from Hsinching, China on a cargo mission to Tezpur, India. After taking off they made one radio contact with Tezpur noting they should arrive at 0225. They were seen nor heard from again. The entire crew was lost on September 24, 1944. William was declared Missing In Action" on this mission during the war. Having actually gone "Missing" on the above date, he was not officially declared by the military as being dead until September 25, 1945, 1 year and 1 day after he went missing as was the custom. His name is commemorated on the Walls of the Missing, Manila American Cemetery, Taguig City, Philippines.

1Lt Spofford 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