By Deborah Larsen
William Cary Campbell
William Cary Campbell was born in Highland Park, Michigan, on October 16, 1919, the son of William and Florence Martin Campbell. William grew up in Rochester, Michigan, and his father worked at Parkedale Biological Farm.
In October 1940, William entered the U.S. Navy Reserve. He was stationed aboard the light cruiser USS Savannah. The Savannah was participating in Operation Avalanche, the Allied landings near Salerno, when a German radio-controlled glide bomb hit her on September 11, 1943. The ensuing explosions heavily damaged the ship and killed 206 of her crewmen, William Campbell among them.
William Cary Campbell died at age 24 on September 11, 1943. His remains were not recovered, and he was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart. William was memorialized in the Tablets of the Missing at the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and Memorial in Italy.