William Reavis Roberts was born on 1 March 1921, the son of William Dewey Roberts and Patti Crow. He married Vivian Grace Frazelle in Arizona on 31 October 1942.
He Died non Battle 2 March 1944
Buried at Fain Cemetery, Calhoun, GA
First Lieutenant
10th Air Force, Headquarters Squadron
The Chattanooga Daily Times, 18 March 1944
Lt. William Reavis Roberts was killed in an airplane crash in India March 2, one day after his 23rd birthday anniversary, his parents Mr. and Mrs. W.D. Roberts, 837 Tremont Street, were informed yesterday. Lt. Roberts, after flying 25 combat missions, was taken out of combat duty and made transportation officer for the 10th American Air Force in India and also post exchange officer of his squadron. He enlisted in the air corps Feb. 10, 1942, while he was a senior at the University of Chattanooga. He previously had attended the University of North Carolina. Roberts was a graduate of Chattanooga High School, and had been employed as a chemist with the Signal Mountain Portland Cement Company. He was a member of Pilgrim Congregational Church and Alpha Lambda Tau fraternity. His wife, the former Miss Vivian Frazelle, is now residing at her home in Raleigh, N.C. Lt. Roberts’ father served for a time as a private in the quartermaster detachment at Fort Oglethorpe during this war.
In a letter received recently by his mother, the young lieutenant wrote prophetically concerning his death: “I may not get home; yet if I don’t, I can seek the undiscovered country with a song on my lips, secure in the knowledge that however small my part was, I did something toward bettering the life of man. If I can retain that hope and be secure in my faith, I can’t help but succeed when I pass beyond the rail that hides many things I have tried to see and understand.”
- Rank: First Lieutenant
- Date of birth: 1 March 1921
- Date of death: 2 March 1944
- County: Hamilton
- Service Branch: Army/Army Air Forces
- Division/Assignment: 10th Air Force, Headquarters Squadron
- Conflict: World War II
- Burial/Memorial Location: Fain Cemetery, Calhoun, Gordon County, Georgia
- Location In Memorial: Pillar X, Bottom Panel
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