Born in Sacramento, California, September 24, 1917 Graduated from the Legget Valley High School, Cummings, California, June 1936
Enrolled in the University of California, Davis August 1936
Completed three semesters in residence and then withdrew to accept employment opportunity.

Military Service

MILITARY HISTORY
0 811 819

Enlisted Services

1942 Oct 6; Enlisted, Army of the United States, Enlisted Reserve Corps.
Oct 6 to Oct 18; Inactive service, ERC.
Oct 19; Assigned to Service Command Unit 1930, Presidio of Monterey, California.
Dec; Transferred to Army Air Force, CC, Nashville, Tennessee.
1943 Jan; Assigned to AAF, Pre-Flight School (B-N), Selman Field, Louisiana.
Mar; Transferred to A/C Det, 329th Base Hq & AB Sq AAFNS, Selman Field.

Rank

Private, AUS, 6 October 1942.
Aviation Cadet, AUS, 28 November 1942.
Honorable Discharge, 2 September 1943. Second Lieutenant, AUS, 4 September 1943.

Officer Service

1943 Sep; Assigned to 402nd Sq, 39th Bomb Gp, Davis Monthan Field, Arizona.
Oct to Dec; transferred to 737th Bomb Sq, (H), 454th Bomb Gp, Charleston, South Carolina, and overseas.
1944 Jan to Apr; Overseas service in European Theater.

SERVICE SCHOOLS ATTENDED: Navigation, Pre-Flight, Advanced, Selman Field, Louisiana, 1943.

Lieutenant William M. West was killed in action 12 April 1944 in Austria.

Decorations and Awards

PURPLE HEART (Posthumous).
AIR MEDAL with one Oak Leaf Cluster.
AMERICAN CAMPAIGN MEDAL.
EUROPEAN-AFRICAN-MIDDLE EASTERN CAMPAIGN with two Bronze Service Stars for participation in the Rome-Arno and Air Combat Campaigns.
DISTINGUISHED UNIT CITATION EMBLEM.
WORLD WAR II VICTORY MEDAL.
AVIATION BADGE ‘Navigator’.
MARKSMAN BADGE with Pistol Bar.