William (Bill) Anthony Nogay was born in Youngstown, OH on April 16, 1920 and raised in nearby Weirton, WV. On September 29, 1939 he entered military service with the U.S. Army and received specialized training in radio and communications. Enamored with the idea of flying, Sergeant Nogay sent a request to the War Department to become a pilot. His request was granted and he was sent to pilot training at Santa Ana, CA on October 24, 1942. He graduated from pilot training as a B-17 Bomber pilot at Douglas Army Air Field, Douglas, AZ on July 28, 1943.

Shortly thereafter he was shipped to Foggia, Italy, to serve in combat with the Fifteenth Air Force, 463d Bombardment Group, and 773rd Bombardment Squadron. His first combat mission was flown as co-pilot against targets in Imotski, Yugoslavia, on March 30, 1944. His first combat mission as Pilot/Aircraft Commander was on his 32nd mission (24th sortie) to targets in Budapest, Hungary. In total, Lieutenant Nogay flew 48 combat missions in 33 sorties, with missions to Yugoslavia, Northern Italy, Rumania, Austria, France, Germany, and Hungary. He was involved in many air raids crucial to the war effort, including sorties against aircraft factories in Weiner Neustadt, Germany, and marshalling yards in Ploesti, Rumania. Lt. Nogay was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) on July 29, 1944 for his mission over Budapest, Hungary, and he concluded his combat flight missions on July 5, 1944 with a mission to Montpellier, France.

While awaiting a return to a combat tour, Lt. Nogay volunteered for classified duty with the Army Airways Communications System. Because of his background in aviation and radio/communications he was selected to initiate a series of flights to check out new Navigational Aids, Instrument Landing Systems (ILS) facilities, and Airways Communication systems. After refresher training at Chanute Field, IL, and Wichita Falls, TX, Captain (Capt.) Nogay flew his missions from places such as Payne Field, Cairo, Egypt utilizing a war weary B-17, C-47 and B-25 to cover a territory from Tripoli, Tripolitania to Jask in the Gulf of Oman, an area of about 1500 miles.

Capt. Nogay continued to be involved with a number of new and evolving technologies of the time, including Doppler Radar and Long Range Aerial Navigation (LORAN). After his tour in the Mediterranean, Capt. Nogay was sent to Rantoul, IL to take over a LORAN station and subsequently, for Radar Officers Training at Boca Raton, FL, and Biloxi, MS. Following the completion of his training, he was assigned to Naha, Okinawa and Iwo Jima as a Radar Officer. Returning from the Pacific, Major Nogay was assigned as a Squadron Officer at Hill Field, UT, and then to Sondrestrom, Greenland as a Liaison Officer for construction of a high powered Low Frequency Radio facility. His next assignment was with Group Headquarters at St. Johns, Newfoundland, for three years, then to the Airways and Air Communication Service (AACS) Andrews AFB, Washington, D.C.

After a distinguished and diverse 20 year military aviation career, Major Nogay retired from the active duty Air Force on October 31, 1959. Major Nogay was a Command Pilot with flight hours in the B-17G, C-47 and B-25. His honors and awards include the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters, and Distinguished Unit Citation. Major Nogay was married to the former Mary Agnes Sagan of Weirton, WV for 65 years before passing on January 14, 2012. They had five children and ten grandchildren.