William Harrell Nellis (March 8, 1916 – December 27, 1944) was a United States

fighter pilot A fighter pilot is a military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, air-to-ground combat and sometimes electronic warfare while in the cockpit of a fighter aircraft. Fighter pilots undergo specialized training in aerial warfare an ...

who flew 70

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

combat missions. He was shot down three times, the last time fatally. On April 30, 1950, the Las Vegas Air Force Base in

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

was renamed

Nellis Air Force Base Nellis Air Force Base ("Nellis" colloq.) is a United States Air Force installation in southern Nevada. Nellis hosts air combat exercises such as Exercise Red Flag and close air support exercises such as Green Flag-West flown in " Military ...

in his honor. Soon after his birth in

Santa Rita, New Mexico Santa Rita is a ghost town in Grant County in the U.S. state of New Mexico. The site of Chino copper mine, Santa Rita was located fifteen miles east of Silver City. History Copper mining in the area began late in the Spanish colonial period, ...

, Nellis and his parents Cecil and Marguerite, moved to

Searchlight, Nevada Searchlight is an unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in Clark County, Nevada, United States, at the topographic saddle between two mountain ranges. At the 2020 census it had a population of 445. History According to U.S. Sena ...

, and, when he was 13, to

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish language, Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the List of United States cities by population, 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the U.S. state, state of Neva ...

. Nellis graduated from

Las Vegas High School Las Vegas High School is a public high school in Sunrise Manor, Nevada, part of the Clark County School District. It is the oldest high school in Las Vegas and originally opened in 1905 on what was then the outskirts of town. The school's first ...

; he did not go to college, but subsequently joined the Army Enlisted Reserve Corps on December 9, 1942, training in

Albany, Georgia Albany ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Georgia. Located on the Flint River, it is the seat of Dougherty County, and is the sole incorporated city in that county. Located in southwest Georgia, it is the principal city of the Albany, Georgia m ...

. He was commissioned a flight officer on January 7, 1944. and on July 9, Nellis was assigned to the

513th Fighter Squadron 513th may refer to: *513th Air Control Group, United States Air Force Reserve unit assigned to Tinker AFB, Oklahoma *513th Electronic Warfare Squadron, United States Air Force unit assigned to the 53d Electronic Warfare Group at Eglin Air Force Bas ...

, in support of General George Patton's Third Army. On December 27, 1944, flying a

P-47 Thunderbolt The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. It was a successful high-altitude fighter and it also served as the foremost American fighter-bombe ...

during the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted from 16 December 1944 to 28 January 1945, towards the end of the war in ...

, he was shot down by ground fire while

strafing Strafing is the military practice of attacking ground targets from low-flying aircraft using aircraft-mounted automatic weapons. Less commonly, the term is used by extension to describe high-speed firing runs by any land or naval craft such ...

a German convoy in

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small land ...

. He was too low to bail out, and crashed near Winseler. Nellis' remains were recovered from his wrecked aircraft the following April. He was buried at Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery and Memorial near Liège,

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

.American Air Museum in Britain
/ref>

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nellis, William 1916 births 1944 deaths People from Searchlight, Nevada People from the Las Vegas Valley People from Santa Rita, New Mexico United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II Shot-down aviators United States Army Air Forces personnel killed in World War II Recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) United States Army Air Forces officers Aviators killed by being shot down Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in Belgium Las Vegas High School alumni Military personnel from Nevada Military personnel from New Mexico