William Thomas “Billy” Russell was born on December 22, 1924, in Mission, Hidalgo County, Texas, the son of George W. Russell and Minnie L. Barber Russell. He attended the Harlingen and Raymondville Schools and entered the Army Air Forces on March 17, 1943. He trained in San Antonio and at Cimarron Field, Oklahoma, receiving his commission at Foster Field in Victoria, Texas.

Russell began overseas duty in July 1944 and served as a fighter pilot of a P-47 Thunderbolt with the U.S. Army Air Forces. He flew forty-six combat missions over enemy territory in Corsica, France, and Italy. On February 21, 1945, while flying his P-47 Thunderbolt, Lt. Russell was killed near Valence, close to Combovin, in the Drôme Department of France, on the Col de Limouges.