Editor’s note: This tribute is one in a series of reader-submitted tributes to World War II-era veterans that will be posted during September.

2ND LT. WILLIAM J. BUCKLEY, USAAF

Hometown: Shoreline.

Branch: U.S. Army Air Force.

Years of service: 1943-46.

Highest rank attained: Second lieutenant (flight officer/navigator).

Significant duty stations or deployments during the War: Navigator on a B-24 bomber; flew missions over Germany. Was at Buckingham Palace on VE Day.

POST-WAR CAREER: Electrical engineer for Boeing from 1957-1987; worked on projects such as the Bomark and ICBM missile defense systems.