By Deborah Larsen
William Vaino “Bill” Pennanen
William Vaino “Bill” Pennanen (sometimes known as Vaino William Pennanen) was born in Harbor Beach, Michigan, on December 13, 1922, the son of Finnish immigrants Peter and Anna Nieminen Pennanen. The Pennanen family moved to Rochester when Bill was a teenager and lived on South Street. Bill attended Rochester High School and graduated in the class of 1941.
In August 1942, Bill enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps. He was one of five Pennanen brothers who served in uniform during World War II. Bill was trained as a navigator and commissioned as a second lieutenant. He was assigned to the 499th Bomb Squadron of the 345th Bomb Group, flying the B-25 Mitchell bomber. Bill flew 42 combat missions with the 499th in the Pacific Theater and was wounded near Jakarta in the fall of 1945. He was awarded the Purple Heart and the Air Medal.
After the war, Bill married and earned his electrical engineering degree from Lawrence Institute of Technology. He worked for several major U.S. corporations and also worked on elements of the NASA space program in the 1960s. He served in the Air Force Reserve until 1972, retiring at the rank of lieutenant colonel. Bill and his wife moved to Brevard County, Florida, in 1988.
William Vaino Pennanen died at age 85 on February 25, 2008, and was laid to rest in Rockledge, Florida.