William Wiley

Branch of Service: Navy

Unit: Amphibian

Theater of Operation: Pacific

Enlisted / Commissioned: Sep 9, 1943

Discharged: Apr 15, 1946

Highest Rank: Signalman 2nd Class

Honored By: Daughter, Diane Wiley Bower

My father was a senior in high school when he asked his father if he could enlist. His father said, ‘Sure, Billy, as soon as you graduate.’ That’s exactly what he did. He was a signalman 2nd class on LSM 13 that displayed a Black Cat on its bow, drawn by Walt Disney, as a favor to a female in his employ who was dating a sailor on LSM13. He also boasts that his ship was in the Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945, when the armistice was signed on the USS Missouri.