In June 1945 Bill got tired of feeding his father/grandfather’s "damned chickens" before dawn on the old man’s farm in Oakland, NJ and enlisted in the Army. It began a 21-year Army career as an infantryman, telephone wire chief and troubleshooter.

Bill spent nearly half of his Army career in French Indo-China, Korea, and West Germany. He also did tours at Camp Crowder, MO; Fort Monmouth, NJ; Fort Lewis, WA; Fort Huachuca, AZ and Fort Bragg, NC.

Bill was a combat G.I. and Signal Corpsman during the Korean War, and was with the 2^nd "Indian Head" Division when it reinforced the Pusan perimeter in August 1950. He participated in the summer and fall advance to the Yalu River and the 8^th Army’s agonizing retreat after Communist China’s intervention in November 1950.

Bill later commanded a detachment of signalmen attached to the Republic of Korea’s 1st Army Corps, and won the Silver Star, our nation’s third highest military decoration, for rescuing wounded comrades during a murderous mortar barrage near Wonju (south of Seoul) in early 1951. Sixteen of his detachment’s 18 members were killed or wounded, but Bill escaped unhurt. Bill claims he won the medal because he survived, but the Army awards the Silver Star for gallantry in action. Bill also was engaged in the vicious firefight at Dagmar Hills and endured combat in 14 of his 18 months in the Korean War. His Korean campaign ribbon has seven battle stars.

In Europe, Bill served with an Armored Infantry Battalion near the German-Czech border. He finished his Army career as a staff sergeant with the 4^th "Ivy" Infantry Division at Fort Lewis, WA.

Bill retired from the Army in 1966 to become a telephone troubleshooter in Southern California for Pacific Telephone Co and American Telephone & Telegraph.. He ended a 20-year PacTel and AT&T career in 1986.

Bill married Carol Vander Bourgh of Haledon, NJ, a nurse, and had four children: David, Paul, Karl, and Ruth. His marriage to Carol ended in divorce in 1965.