William (Bill) Pflug was born on August 17, 1918, in Lincoln, NE, the oldest of five children of Louis and Susanna (Limbeck) Pflug, He attended school in Lincoln, graduating from Lincoln High School in 1936 and the University of Nebraska in 1940. After a brief time working for International Harvester, Bill entered the Army in 1942.

Bill’s pilot training took him to San Antonio, TX, Muskogee, OK, Winfield, KS, and Pampa, TX. After earning his wings, he enjoyed a brief stop at home in Lincoln after one year in the Army. In November 1943, following a stopover at the crew replacement depot in Salt Lake City, UT, he traveled to Alexandria, LA for phase training as a co-pilot in the B-17.

Bill and his crew began their trip to the European Theater of Operations in late February 1944 via Grand Island, NE (including a four-hour visit to his home in Lincoln), Presque Isle, ME, and Gander, Newfoundland, before arriving at Prestwick, Scotland on March 11, 1944. On March 16, 1944, Bill and his crew were assigned as Crew 28, 569th Bomb Sq, 390th Bomb Group (H), 8th Air Force, based at Framlingham, England.

In his diary, Bill recorded the details of his first nine missions including trips to various targets in France and Germany. His airplane received battle damage and brought back wounded crewmen at least twice during March and April 1944. On April 24, 1944, on his tenth mission, Bill’s airplane received a direct hit from anti-aircraft fire after which, according to the official combat report, the airplane “dropped out of formation with the left wing and bomb bay on fire.” The airplane subsequently exploded and crashed in two large pieces near the German village of Kluftern. None of the crew survived. The remains of the crew were originally interred by local civilians in a temporary grave near the spot where the forward section of the airplane fell. In 1946, the remains were disinterred and returned to the U.S. for burial in a common grave at the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery near St. Louis, MO. Bill was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and Air Medal.

Bill was known by his family and friends as a man of faith whose life reflected his Christian values. He was active in his church in Lincoln, and he cared deeply for his family: his widowed mother, Susanna; sisters, Mildred and Elizabeth (Dutch); and brothers, John and Fred. Bill wrote frequently to all of them, and his mother kept all the letters he sent home.

In 1984, one of Bill’s nephews spoke with the sole surviving member of Crew 28, Fred Herring. Fred was the regular right waist gunner, but he had been wounded on a previous mission, so he was not flying with the rest of them on the day they went down. In a brief telephone conversation, he described Bill as a quiet officer who was well liked by the entire crew. Fred especially noted Bill’s kind and respectful demeanor with officers and enlisted alike. Bill was truly an officer and a gentleman.