William Lamo Teen McLain Jr. was born on August 31, 1917, in Montgomery, Alabama. He was the son of William L. McLain and Annie Belle Fabel McLain. He was married to Elizabeth Florence Miller. He enlisted in the service on August 19, 1942. He served in the 765th Bomb Squadron, 461st Bomb Group, Heavy, as a Second Lieutenant and Navigator of B-24J #42-50953, nicknamed "Flying Finger," during World War II.

On December 17, 1944, the “Flying Finger” took off from Torretta, Italy, as part of Mission No. 151 to bomb the synthetic oil refinery at Odertal, Germany. The “Flying Finger,” piloted by 2Lt Phillip Crossman, was last seen around 11:45 a.m. near Muglitz, Moravia. It never returned. The aircraft went down south of Neutitschein (now Nový Jičín, Czech Republic) after encountering heavy flak and German fighters, with four crewmen killed and the rest wounded or taken prisoner.

2Lt McLain was taken prisoner and held at Stalag Luft 1 at Barth-Vogelsang, Prussia. After his liberation, he went on to serve with the 370th Bombardment Squadron, 307th Bomb Wing, and was killed in action on December 4, 1951, when his B-29A Superfortress (No. 44-27314) lost an engine shortly after takeoff from Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, crashing five miles east of the field and killing nine crew members. McLain is now buried in the Greenwood Cemetery, Montgomery, Montgomery County, Alabama, USA.

Source of information: 461st.org, www.americanairmuseum.com, www.koreanwar.org