Major (Ret.) William Roberts served in both the officer and enlisted ranks of the Air Force, and is a former Prisoner of War. Roberts was a Staff Sergeant Aerial Gunner with the Army Air Corps assigned to the 463rd Bomb Group. On July 7th, 1944, his B-17G Flying Fortress was shot down near Velehrad, Czech Republic. He spent 11 months as a POW in various camps in Poland. Major Roberts’ camp was eventually liberated by a British tank force in May of 1945. He recently recalled many details of his conduct as a Prisoner of War. “You call up an inner-self to do what is needed and to keep going,” he said.
Major Roberts continues to honor POWs and MIAs by being a public speaker, a national director for the American Ex-Prisoners of War and in several veterans’ organizations. His son, Colonel William Roberts III, is currently a B-1 Lancer pilot in the Air Force.