bill's life in pictures

    
On August 19, 1942, after completing one year of his university education, Bill enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps. After extensive training in the United States, he was assigned to the 20th Air Force stationed on Tinian in the Marianna Islands in the southwest Pacific.

Tinian was the island from which the first atomic bombs were flown to Hiroshima, and the site of their final assembly. The increased size of the atomic bombs required the construction of special pits in the airfield apron, and one of Bill's assigned aircraft was removed from it's hard stand in order to permit such construction. Tinian was also home base for the B-29 bombers, which routinely flew 1500 miles to Japan and back on bombing raids during the war. Bill was a Staff Sergeant in the Communication section of the 505th  Bomb Group,  and spent the majority of his time monitoring the radio equipment for these planes.

 

 

Widely known for his bowling and basketball abilities, it should surprise no one that Bill often made the sports page of the local air base papers. One article, however, from the Harvard Air Fields' Harvard Accent is worth transcribing:

"Pfc. Bill O'Heran, our radio runabout, is a lad with a Sinatra-like baritone. The only swooning impressionable females would do after a gander at O'Heran, though, would be strictly from horror."

Bill was honorably discharged from the United States Army on January 1, 1946. For his efforts he was awarded one service stripe, two overseas service bars, an American Campaign medal, an Asiatic Pacific Theater Ribbon with three bronze battle stars, a Good Conduct medal and a World War II Victory Medal.