William Arthur Doering (Bill)

White Lake, SD

1937, 4726, Crow Creek (Chamberlain), SCS-1,

William Arthur Doering, known as "Bill," was born on March 5, 1910, to Arthur and Elizabeth Doering, in the Plankinton, SD, area. His family later moved near White Lake, where William graduated from White Lake High School in 1928.

On January 28, 1941, William was one of the first volunteers from Aurora County to join the Army. Inducted at Ft. Snelling, Minnesota, William then went to Ft. Lewis, Washington, where he joined the 30th Infantry as a member of the medical team. In that same year, Doering was transferred to the Reserves because he was older than 28.

In January of 1942, William was called back to Camp Lewis, then to Camp Ord in California. In September of 1942, his last transfer before being sent overseas was to Camp Pickett. T/5 William Doering was shipped out to the Pacific theater of operations and arrived in North Africa on November 8, 1942. After North Africa, Doering's unit, the 30th Infantry, was sent to Sicily and then to Italy, where William served as a surgeon's technician.

It was said that as a member of the medical corps with a Red Cross flag overhead, T/5 William Doering should not have been a victim of the enemy bombing attack on February 24, 1944. Although initially buried overseas, William Doering's remains were returned and reburied at the Catholic cemetery at Plankinton.

William Doering was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart. "He has gone in honor and the goodly company of patriots."

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