William N. McCullough was born in 1909 to Bertha M. and William McCullough who lived at 442 Ridge Avenue, Spring City, Pennsylvania.  His father worked as a laborer in a Stove Foundry.

 William was one of nine siblings: Eva, Margaret, Edwin, William, Robert, Helen, Elva, Minnie, and Grace.

William was a member of the Spring City Evangelical Lutheran Church then located on Church Street (since relocated to Bonnie Brae and Schuylkill Road as the Zion Lutheran Church).  He was employed at the Snow White Bleaching Company, located along the canal in Royersford (Snow White Bleaching did industrial bleaching of fabrics).  William also was a member of the Liberty Fire Company on Hall Street (still there today) and the Pottstown Orioles.

William entered service in the Army on November 8, 1942. After basic training he was shipped overseas in November 1943 to the European Theater of Operations (ETO) and assigned to the 121^st Infantry Regiment, 8^th Infantry Division.  This is the same division, albeit a different regiment, that Hero John E. Green from Coatesville served.

 

The 8^th Division, also known as the "Golden Arrow", or "Pathfinder" Division, landed on Utah Beach at Normandy, France on July 4, 1944 (the original landings in Normandy were on June 6th) . They aided the effort to liberate the town of St. Lo and break out from the Beachhead, around the 18th.

Private First Class William N. McCullough was Killed In Action on July 19, 1944.

He was buried at a local military cemetery, Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer at Normandy.

After the war at the request of his family, his body was returned aboard the transport John L. McCarley with 2,553 of his deceased brothers in arms. The funeral was held at the Nelson Funeral Home at 331 New Street on Saturday April 24, 1948.  The Reverend Joseph L. Schantz, Pastor of the Spring City Evangelical Lutheran Church officiated.  Interment occurred at the East Vincent Mennonite Cemetery on Schuylkill Road.  He was buried next to his father.