Bill Foote was scheduled for a promotion and rotation home when he ran into Biak Island.

William R. Foote was born on November 29, 1922, in California, to Mr. and Mrs. O. K. Foote. He and his brother Ronnie grew up in Santa Cruz and attended Branciforte Junior High School. In 1937 Foote entered Santa Cruz High School where he was an outstanding basketball star of that school and of the Central Coast league. In addition to establishing scoring records in basketball, he also excelled in softball.

After graduating from high school in 1940, Foote enrolled at San Jose State College, where he continued playing basketball. After a year and a half, he left San Jose State and moved to San Francisco, where he was employed by the Kaiser Shipyards. During that period, he and Doris Collings, a local Santa Cruz girl, were married.

In February 1943, William Foote enrolled in the US Army Air Cadet program and was sent to Buckley Field in Denver, Colorado. After additional training at Fort Sumner, New Mexico, he earned his wings and commission as a second lieutenant. He was then assigned to the Merced Airbase in California that brought him closer to Doris and their newborn daughter, Judy Ann. A short course at Kerns, Utah, provided him with the final training he required to qualify as a copilot of C-47 transports.

In November 1944 Lt. Foote was assigned to the 13th Air Force serving in the South Pacific. His assignment included flying supplies to the front and returning with wounded troops. In July 1945 while flying a mission on Biak Island in the Schouten Island group northeast of New Guinea, Second Lieutenant William R. Foote's C-47 crashed. On July 21, 1945 he died from the wounds sustained during that crash. His remains were returned home in 1949 and interred at the Golden Gate National Cemetery at San Bruno.

(NARA2; USDVA; SCHSC Pg. 9, SCSn August 7, 1945 1:1, SCR August 10, 1945-1)