• April 28, 1915 – June 1, 1945
  • Hamblen County, Tennessee
• College of Law – 1939
  • Morristown High School
  • Virginia Polytechnic Institute
• Major – Army
  • Entered Service February 26, 1942
• KIA on Okinawa. Intelligence officer, Hq Co, 307th Inf Reg, 77th Inf Division. Buried at Arlington, 1949. Bronze Star
• Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia
  • Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster awarded during the Battle of Barrigada as a Captain
    • Manned a battalion observation post in the forward area in full view of enemy snipers and under heavy machine gun fire

William Wiley Kreis (April 28, 1915 – June 1, 1945) was born in Hamblen County, Tennessee, to Mr. and Mrs. J.D. and Mary Kreis. He graduated from Morristown High School in Morristown, Tennessee. He attended Virginia Polytechnic Institute before transferring to the University of Tennessee and completing a Law degree in 1939. While at UT, he was Phi Gamma Delta fraternity president, president of Scabbard and Blade, and captain and regimental adjutant of ROTC, among other activities. He was one of fourteen UT students selected in the national Who’s Who. Following graduation, he became an associate at Green, Webb, Bass, and McCampbell law firm in Knoxville.  He enlisted in the United States Army early in 1942 and deployed to the Pacific Theater in March 1944 with the 307th Infantry Regiment of the 77th Infantry Division.  He earned a Bronze Star as a Captain during the Invasion of Guam in August, 1944. During the Japanese last stand at the Battle of Barrigada, Captain Kreis manned a frontline battalion observation post in full view of snipers and under heavy machine gun fire. He was also promoted to the rank of Major not long after this and served as an Intelligence Officer of the 307th Infantry Regiment. Major William Kreis was killed in action on June 1, 1945, in the final days of the Battle of Okinawa while interviewing prisoners at the front. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. He was survived by his parents and his brother, John D. Kreis, who also attended UT and served in the U.S. Navy during WWII.

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