William Farrow served in the U.S. Army Air Corps as a First Lieutenant in the 1st Special Aviation Project (Doolittle Raider Force) during World War II. A B-25 Pilot, he was one of the Doolittle Raiders who successfully bombed Tokyo and other Japanese cities on April 18, 1942. After bombing an airplane factory and oil tank in Nagoya, Farrow intended to land at a Chinese airfield, but short on fuel, he crash-landed in Japanese-controlled Nanchang, China. He was captured by the Japanese and subjected to imprisonment, interrogation and torture. Forced to stand trial for machine-gunning civilians, Farrow was quickly found guilty and sentenced to death. He was executed on October 15, 1942 in Shanghai's Public Cemetery No. 1 and cremated. After the war, Lieutenant Farrow's ashes were recovered and buried in Arlington National Cemetery. He received the following awards: Army Air Forces Pilot Badge, Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart, Prisoner of War Medal, American Defense Service Medal, American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with 1 bronze campaign star, and the World War II Victory Medal.
