World War II Honoree

William A. Quinlan

Branch of Service

U.S. Army Air Force

Hometown

Davenport, Iowa

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Staff Sergeant. Inducted into the United States Army Air Corps July 28, 1942 at Des Moines, Iowa. After completing basic military training, he was selected to attend the Flight Aviation Training Program. He served as a Gunner aboard a B-24-D ‘Liberator’ Bomber, assigned to the 415th Bomber Squadron, 98th Bomber Group, and an element of the U.S. Ninth Army Air Forces. His unit was based at Libya’s Benghazi Airfield Location: North Africa, Western Desert Campaign. Tuesday, May 11, 1943 he was reported missing in action, while participating in a bombing mission over Sicily’s Catania Harbor. His bomber crashed into the Mediterranean Sea, after being hit by German anti-aircraft ground flak fire. In remembrance of the brave, his name is permanently inscribed in the tablets of the missing, memorialized at the North Africa American Cemetery and Memorial Location: Carthage, Tunisia. In his Memory and Honor, a Cenotaph Memorial has been placed at the Davenport Memorial Park Cemetery in Davenport, Iowa. This American Patriot received the following decorations posthumously: Air Medal and the Purple Heart. The Air Medal was awarded to the Sergeant for meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight, and the Purple Heart for his Heroism and ultimate sacrifice.