William Henry Ort was born on July 8, 1923 in Washington. He was the son of Henry Kulp Ort and Evelyn Marr Gaylord McFeely. He attended 1 year of college and was a driver. William joined the Regular Army in Seattle, Washington on 19 November 1942. He served in the 377th Fighter Squadron, 362nd Fighter Group as a Second Lieutenant during World War II.
On October 2, 1944, 2LT Ort took off from A-79 airfield at Prosnes, France, on a "Fighter Sweep" mission to Saarbrücken, Germany. He was killed in a crash on this mission on October 2, 1944 and is now buried in the Lorraine American Cemetery, Saint-Avold, France. His crash was observed by 1Lt Robert E Berggreen. The MACR indicates near Puttlingen, Germany - in fact it is rather Puttlingen, Germanized name of Puttelange-aux-Lacs.
1st Lt Robert E. Berggren:
I was flying Yellow leader and was orbiting the area under attack at about 3,000 feet. Lt. Ort was flying Blue two position on the same mission on October 2, 1944. About 1545 he made a pass by himself on a German truck in the vicinity of Puttlingen. The instant he passed over the truck a streak of fire came from the plane. He struck the trees of a forest bordering the road and crashed in flames. I saw no sign of enemy ground fire near his plane when he was on the pass but there was some small arms fire in the vicinity. There was absolutely no possibility of him escaping alive, in my estimation.
Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.fieldsofhonor-database.com, francecrashes39-45.net