African American, Alaska Highway, H&S Company, 97th Regimental Photographer.
Born: 12 November 1917, Baltimore, MD. Died: 26 October 2009, MD.
He enlisted on 11 August 1941, Baltimore, Maryland then boarded a train at Mount Royal Station for Fort Meade, Maryland where he completed his basic training.
His father, William Thomas Griggs, born in Maryland was a public school principal. His mother, Mary Catherine Griggs, was also born in Maryland.
William went to Booker T. Washington Junior High School and graduated in 1935 from Douglass High School. He shared his love for photography with his father. They developed and printed film under gaslight before the invention of electricity and for a summer operated the Oriole Photo Studio in Baltimore.
He attended Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, graduating in 1939, where he honed his photography skills under the tutelage of Mr. Cole, a physics professor.
William was a member of the first Baltimore Negro chapter of the Boy Scouts. He owned and played a mandolin and belonged to a mandolin club in high school. He also learned to play piano and he shared his musical talents for church services of the 97th Engineer Battalion in Florida.
He was a member of the original ten black janitors, nine were college graduates, hired at Bartlett Hayward Company – a defense contractor that built aerial gunnery mounts. On his WW2 Draft Card he records his employment with McKenna Pontiac Co.
At age 24, William, a soldier stationed at Eglin Field, FL, was able to get a furlough. He married Rebecca “Becky” Irene Thompson, age 21, on 6 April 1942 in Alexandria, VA. Once the ceremony was completed, he received a telegram from the Army to return to his station, immediately. It would be another year before he and Becky would honeymoon.
Both William and Becky eventually earned masters’ degrees, in 1950, from New York University and became teachers in the Baltimore City school system.
After leaving Alaska, he attended Officer Candidate School at Ft. Monmouth, New Jersey. He was the only black to graduate in his training class to become a field radio specialist.
His highest rank was First Lieutenant.
Serial #33065654