branch death_place death_date birth_place allegiance awards battles birth_date placeofburial rank image article_title name
united states army air forces luxembourg 27 december 1944 santa rita , new mexico united states of america legion -lrb- 2 -rrb- of merit -lrb- 2 -rrb- distinguished flying cross world war ii 08 march 1916 henri-chapelle american cemetery and memorial first lieutenant lieutenant william harrell nellis.jpg william harrell nellis
 william harrell nellis
william harrell nellis

william harrell nellis -lrb- march 8 , 1916 -- december 27 , 1944 -rrb- was a united states fighter pilot who flew 70 world war ii combat missions .
he was shot down three times , the last time fatally .
on april 30 , 1950 , the las vegas air force base in nevada was renamed nellis air force base in his honor .
soon after his birth in santa rita , new mexico , nellis 's family , cecil and marguerite moved to searchlight , nevada and , when he was 13 , to las vegas , nevada .
he graduated from las vegas high school .
he did not go to college , but subsequently joined the army enlisted reserve corps on december 9 , 1942 , training in albany , georgia .
he was commissioned a flight officer on january 7 , 1944 .
on july 9 , 1944 , nellis was assigned to the 513th fighter squadron , in support of general george patton 's third army .
on december 27 , 1944 , flying a p-47 thunderbolt during the battle of the bulge , he was shot down by ground fire while strafing a german convoy in luxembourg .
he was too low to bail out .
nellis ' remains were recovered from his wrecked aircraft the following april .
he was buried at henri-chapelle american cemetery and memorial near liège , belgium .
