William J. Pires was born January 6, 1923, in New Bedford, Massachusetts.
He enlisted in the U.S. Navy December 14, 1942, and attended boot camp at
Great Lakes, Illinois, and was then assigned to the Armed Guard Center in
Brooklyn, New York.

Ships he served on were the SS LOUIS MARSHALL, the SS PAN MARYLAND, and
a Trinidad BWI Crash Boat. He served in NAS at BOCA CHICA, (Key West)
Florida, as well.

William received the European North African, Good Conduct with Star,
Victory and American Campaign awards.

His most memorable experience was returning to the U.S. with 999 German
prisoners and one Arab spy in 1943 aboard a Liberty Ship, the SS LOUIS
MARSHALL. He later took liberty in Casablanca, Oran, Algiers, Naples and Bari.

During his civilian career, he served on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
as a launch operator at Cape Cod Canal, Cape Cod, for 19 years. He also was
a construction inspector for Rivers and Harbors in The New England Division
of the Army Engineers for six years. He retired as a LCDR for the Coast Guard
Reserves after 24 years.

He and his wife, Estelle, have four children and currently reside
in Acushnet, Massachusetts for six months out of the year and spend the
other half in North Jupiter, Florida.