William Robert Fast was born on December 15, 1921 to George W. and Delia (Reeves) Fast. He died January 3, 1945 while serving as radar operator on a B-29 during World War II.

Sergeant, U.S. Army Air Forces
Service # 16159860
871st Bomber Squadron, 497th Bomber Group, Very Heavy
Entered the Service from: Michigan
Died: 3-Jan-45
Missing in Action or Buried at Sea
Tablets of the Missing at Honolulu Memorial
Honolulu, Hawaii
Awards: Air Medal, Purple Heart

American Battle Monuments Commission

The following information is taken from the Missing Air Crew Report filed after the loss of his aircraft.

Sgt. Fast was a crew member on the B-29 having serial number 42-63418, piloted by Capt. Howard M. Clifford and nicknamed "Jumbo, King of the Show." This B-29 and crew of eleven were assigned to the 497th Group, Squadron 871st Bombardment Detachment. On January 3, 1945 the plane departed Saipan via Iwo Jima, carrying incendiary bombs on an urban combat mission to the target of Nagoya, Japan. After reaching their target, they were enroute back to Saipan and made radio contact with another plane in the group, asking for bearing and course and signalled SOS.

The crew ditched the aircraft at 16/16N 144/53E (100 miles NW of Saipan) at 2127Z due to engine failure and lack of fuel. They decided to ditch rather than bail out because it was night time and they were in a heavy rain. Five surviving crew, including the pilot, were picked up a few days later by the Destroyer Grayson. The remaining six crew were never found and were Lost at Sea. According to information provided by the surviving crew, Sgt. Fast was in position for the ditching maneuver and was located near the escape hatch, just beyond the aft pressure bulkhead. The aircraft broke up on impact.

In addition to this mission, the crew flew two other missions: a November 1944 night raid over Nagoya and a December 1944 daylight raid on a power plant at Nagoya.