William Cecil McMillen was born on November 28, 1922, in Bridgeville, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. He was the son of John Lewis McMillen Sr. and Minnie P Peters McMillen. He registered for the draft on June 30, 1942, listing employment in Bridgeville. He enlisted in the U.S. Army on January 6, 1943, in Pittsburgh, where he reported a grammar school education and experience in construction, and later rose to the rank of Staff Sergeant. He was sent to the European Theater on May 6, 1943, serving with the 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, which landed in Normandy on June 7, 1944, and went on to fight in major campaigns throughout France and Germany.

SSgt McMillen was Killed in Action on August 31, 1944, during the Battle for Brest, France. He is now buried in the Brittany American Cemetery and Memorial, Saint-James, Département de la Manche, Basse-Normandie, France.

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