William R. Wais was born in 1924 in La Crosse, Wisconsin.  He was the son of William E. and Marie Wais.   William had three brothers (William E. Jr., George, Thomas), and one sister (Mary Jane.)  His brother George served in the Navy during the war. At some point between 1940 and 1943, the family moved to St. Paul, Minnesota where his father became a railroad ticket clerk and the Treasurer of the Railroad Passenger Club Association.

William became the copilot of a B-24 J Liberator bomber, Serial Number 42-50749, that was nicknamed the Hot Rock.  It was part of the the 853rd Bomb Squadron of the 491st Bomb Group. On 24 March 1945, the crew of the Hot Rock was participating in Operation Varsity, a joint American-British operation to cross the River Rhine.  American and British paratroopers were dropped by parachute and gliders on the east side of the River Rhine to secure key positions, while infantry forces made an amphibious assault across the river to link up with them.  The mission of the crew of the Hot Rock was to drop supplies to British paratroopers shortly after they had landed, a mission that required the Hot Rock to fly at low altitude.  German infantry shot at the bomber as it passed over head, taking out two of its engines.  The bomber exploded as it hit the ground near Wesel, Germany, killing all nine men aboard.

The Hot Rock’s pilot, James W. Brown, its flight engineer, Harry Zadoorian, its radio operator, Albert A. Greenberg, its right-waist gunner, Leonard A. Derence, its left-waist gunner, Ronald M. Craig, and its tail gunner, Frank R. Costello, are all also buried at the Ardennes American Cemetery.

Information from:

• MACR 13615
• https://armyhistory.org/operation-varsity-the-last-airborne-deployment-o...
• http://www.491st.org/crews/pages/browncrew.htm
• American Air Museum (Imperial War Museum)
• https://milwaukeeroadarchives.com/MilwaukeeRoadMagazine/1945June.pdf
• http://www.milwaukeeroadarchives.com/MilwaukeeRoadMagazine/1949February.pdf
• https://milwaukeeroadarchives.com/MilwaukeeRoadMagazine/1955February.pdf
• http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/dailynews-sun/obituary.aspx?n=mary-jane...
• US Census 1940