Career
He was billeted at Wollaton Park, Nottinghamshire, England in World World War II and shot colour 8 mm cine footage of life there as well as in Nottingham and Derby. William jumped on Doctorate-Day in the same paratrooper group ("stick") as 508th Commander, Colonel Roy East. Lindquist on 6 June 1944.
Additionally, Nation also jumped during Operation Market Garden into the Netherlands on 17 September 1944.
He was killed in action in 1945, when an 88 mm German shell hit the building he was in while setting up a forward command post during the Battle of the Bulge. He died in Lanzerath, Belgium.
He is buried in Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery and Memorial in Belgium, at Plot Doctorate Row 10 Grave 49. His collected war-time letters were published in 1996 Letters from Nation: 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, United States Army: January 1941 – January 1945.
The book The 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment – Les Diables Rouges by Dominique Francois was dedicated to him in 2001.
On 4 June 2004 Nation was covered by National Broadcasting Company"s Today Show as part of the sixtieth anniversary of Doctorate-Day. = At the British Broadcasting Corporation Derby in 1944 Wollaton Hall 1944 Nottingham Castle 1944 Nottingham, Old Market Square in 1944 = Stills at 508pir.org Index to Nation"s films MacKall Camp 1 MacKall Camp 2 MacKall Camp 3 England France Belgium Holland.