William W. Rogers was born on December 25, 1893, in Thorntown, Indiana. After attending local schools, he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, in 1914. He subsequently enlisted in the Marine Corps on June 30, 1917, and was assigned to the Headquarters Company, 6th Marine Regiment. Rogers participated first in trench defensive duties near Toulon and subsequently as a corporal in the Battle of Belleau Wood and Battle of Soissons during the summer of 1918. He fought with distinction and earned his battlefield commission to second lieutenant on August 16, 1918.