William Thomas "Dub" Warren, Jr. was born in Louisville, Kentucky in 1918, but he considered Columbus, Ohio his home town. He enlisted at Fort Thomas in Newport, Kentucky on July 30, 1941, as a Private in the Army Air Corps. He had completed 1 year of college, was single, and had worked as a semiskilled mechanic.

William was accepted into the flight training portion of the aviation cadet program, and took basic, and advanced flying training. Upon completion of this, he was commissioned and awarded wings. He was assigned to an operational unit for indoctrination and training as a pilot on the B-17, and for combat crew formation.

This crew deployed to England where they were assigned to the 560th Bomb Squadron of the 388th Bomb Group. The crew flew 27 missions beginning on March 23, 1944 and ending on May 25, 1944. Four of these missions ended with legal aborts, so the crew was only credited with 23.

On May 25, 1944, the crew set out on its 24th (some sources state 25th and supposedly last mission in the combat tour.) This mission was a raid on the railway marshalling yards at Liege, Belgium. The crew encountered heavy flak in the Poix area. The aircraft received several hits. A fire broke out in the fuselage, and both #3 and #4 engines were on fire. The aircraft went into a tight spin and exploded before it hit the ground. Two of the crew were killed; two successfully evaded with the help of the French Resistance, and the remainder were captured.

Lt Warren's body was recovered and buried in the Normandy American Cemetery in France. He was one of the many brave Americans of the 388th Bomber Group who lost their lives in aerial operations against the German forces from June 1943 - August 1945.

Source of information: www.abmc.gov, airforce.togetherweserved.com