Born as one of nine children in Poyen, Arkansas, William Meier had already finished college with an engineering degree when he was drafted in early 1943. The U.S. Army Air Force sent him for training with B-24s at Boca Raton Club in Boca Raton, Florida, and then ordered him to duty in Europe. He served on an air base at Pantanella, Italy on the Adriatic. Assigned to the 464^th Bomb Group, he often worked sixteen-hour days as a ground officer in keeping the bombers flying. William ended his service as a captain. He spent most of his life as an executive in the oil industry.