William Everett Pallesen was born on March 25, 1917, in Manila, Daggett County, Utah. He was the son of Niels Peter Pallesen and Dora Pearson Pallesen. He was married to Gertrude Pallesen. He enlisted in the service on December 28, 1941. He served in Company B, 2nd Raider Battalion as a Private First Class and Rifleman during World War II.

On 17–18 August 1942, he took part in the Makin Island Raid, one of the earliest American offensive ground operations of World War II. The Raiders attacked the Japanese-held island to destroy enemy installations, gather intelligence, capture prisoners, and divert Japanese attention from Allied operations at Guadalcanal and Tulagi. During the difficult withdrawal from Makin, heavy surf, mechanical failures, Japanese air attacks, and confusion complicated the evacuation to the submarines USS Argonaut and USS Nautilus. He was among nine Marines who survived the raid but remained behind on Makin after the main Raider force withdrew. With assistance from local islanders, the stranded Marines attempted to evade Japanese forces but eventually fell into enemy hands. They were subsequently transported to Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, where they were held as prisoners of war by the Japanese Sixth Base Unit.

On October 16, 1942, after Japanese Vice Admiral Kōsō Abe ordered their execution, the nine captured Raiders were taken from confinement to an execution site on Kwajalein. One by one, they were blindfolded, forced to kneel, and beheaded. Their bodies were buried in an unmarked grave near the execution site, and their remains have never been recovered or individually identified.
After World War II, investigations and testimony revealed the fate of the missing Marines. Vice Admiral Abe was tried by an American military commission for his responsibility in the executions, convicted of war crimes, and sentenced to death. He was hanged on Guam in 1947.

PFC Pallesen's name is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial in Honolulu, Honolulu County, Hawaii, USA. He also has a cenotaph in the Manila Cemetery, Manila, Daggett County, Utah, USA.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, navylog.navymemorial.org, weremember.abmc.gov