William Lalley was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1922. While in college in 1942 he signed up for an Army Air Corps program that was supposed to defer his service until he graduated, but he was pulled out of school early in 1943. He then trained as a B-17 pilot, was sent to England as a replacement, and was shot down on his first mission. With the aid of the Dutch resistance, William was able to evade the Germans for about 4 months before being captured. William was sent to three different prison camps while in Germany before the prisoners were finally liberated and he was sent home.