Bill Nairn was born in Washington, DC, on April 9, 1923 and died on Saturday, July 27, 2013 in Melbourne Beach, FL.
Bill grew up on a farm in Wheaton, MD, and attended the local schools and the University of Maryland. While in the Maryland ROTC program, he was called to the Army. Along with many of his later classmates, he ended up at Amherst College where he received an appointment to West Point.
Bill adapted to the rigors and rules of West Point with one minor exception. He and his "wife", Mike Greenberg, had a thriving business partnership selling Christmas cards with pictures of West Point. Fortunately for Mike and Bill, the authorities were either tolerant or unobservant.
Upon graduation, he attended the Basic Infantry Course at Fort Benning and was assigned to the 25th Infantry Division in Osaka, Japan. While there he met a talented and beautiful Army dependent, Janice (Bunny) Lawton. Bill had to wait for Bunny to graduate from High School before they could marry, but he always said it was the smartest thing he ever did.
Less than five months after marrying Bunny, Bill was among the first troops to be sent to Korea where he was CO of Company E, 27th Infantry "Wolfhound" Regiment. He was wounded during the breakout from the Pusan Perimeter and returned to the US. Recuperation and an assignment with civilian components preceded an assignment to Austria and Germany where his first daughter, Laurie, was born.
Bill returned to West Point where he was assigned to the Tactical Department. He attended the Naval Command and Staff Course and was scheduled to be sent to Vietnam. Instead of Vietnam, Bill was sent to Honduras to fill an unexpected language-required vacancy. His second daughter, Jeanie, was born in Tegucigalpa. After graduation from the Inter-American Defense College, he ended his Army career assigned to the US Army School of the Americas in the Canal Zone.
Retirement agreed with Bill and Bunny. Bill kept busy as a church trustee and Senior Income Tax Aide. He served as an Adult Literacy Trainer and was President of his local civic association.
Bill is survived by Bunny, his wife of 63 years; daughter, Laurie Simmons and husband, Jim; daughter, Jean Wodka and husband, Mark; five grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.