• Dec. 13, 1921 – Aug. 6, 1944
• Born in Knoxville, TN
• Liberal Arts 1940-1942
• 2nd Lt. – Army Air Corps
• Trained at Turner Field in Douglas, Georgia, with the 63rd Army Air Force Flying Training Detachment
• B-17 Co-Pilot, 511th Bomb Sqn, 351st Bomb Grp. Shot down during a combat mission over Germany. Went down near Wilhelmshorst. Possibly killed by Germans on the ground.
  • Mission targeting an aircraft parts factory in Brandenburg, Germany
• Buried at Ardennes American Cemetery in Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium

Charles “Bill” Williston Hayes (Dec. 13, 1921 – Aug. 21, 1944) was born in Knoxville, Tennessee. He had been attending the University of Tennessee since 1940 in the College of Liberal Arts as a Pre-Med student when he enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps in 1942. Hayes trained with the 63rd Army Air Force Flying Training Detachment at Turner Field in Douglas, Georgia as a B-17 Pilot. After completing his training, he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant and deployed to the European Theater as a co-pilot flying B-17s for the 511th Bomb Squadron of the 351st Bomb Group. 2nd Lt. Hayes was killed in action during a combat mission targeting an aircraft parts factory in Brandenburg, Germany, on August 6, 1944. His B-17 was shot down by enemy anti-aircraft fire and fighter planes near Wilhelmshorst, Germany. Reports indicate that some of the crew successfully bailed out at the crash site, including 2nd Lt. Hayes, but were killed on the ground by German ground forces. He is memorialized at the Ardennes American Cemetery in Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium.

Back to Veterans Memorial Page