Member of Desmond Crew. William (Bill) C Martin-Dad was born in Shenandoah, Iowa, USA in 1923 and grew up on a farm with his sister Betty Jean. They lived with their parents, James Stuart Martin and Chloe Irene Anderson Martin. Bill graduated from Shenandoah High School in 1940. Bill then attended the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa until his junior year when he enlisted in the Army Air Forces. After completing over a year of military and pilot training all over the country, he was sent to England to the war. He served at Eye Airfield in Suffolk, England October 1944-July 1945 as a co-pilot and tail gun on B-17 aircraft. He flew 21 missions. He was excited to serve, but after the war, he never talked about it. Three large albums of photos, letters, newspaper articles and memorabilia are preserved by his daughter Ann Martin Hovick in Longmont, Colorado. Thumb drive copies are held by Eric Swain and Jacqueline Aling in England.

After the war, Bill returned to the University of Iowa to finish his undergraduate degree. He then obtained his Juris Doctor law degree from the same institution. In 1947 Bill married my mother, Marilyn Forbes. They moved to Portland, Oregon where Bill joined his uncle’s law practice as an attorney. He spent most of his life in Portland practicing law at this firm, eventually becoming the head of the firm. Bill and Marilyn had two children: Ann and James Lowell. Bill was active in the 1960’s Civil Rights movement and traveled to Mississippi in 1964 for a month to legally represent African-Americans. He also enjoyed teaching legal writing at Lewis and Clark College, stamp collecting, reviewing books on television, owning a ranch near Sisters, Oregon, swimming, skiing, traveling, coaching Little League baseball, carpentry, teaching Sunday School at the Presbyterian Church, serving on the Oregon Board of Bar Examiners, and serving on the Lake Oswego, Oregon library board.

In 1995 Bill and Marilyn divorced. Bill married Kathryn Fehr Schenck and they retired to the Big Island of Hawaii where he taught legal writing for the University of Hawaii. He enjoyed his dogs, playing tennis, and gardening. Bill’s final days were spent in Longmont, Colorado near his daughter, Ann. Bill died in 2001.