Sgt. Willard Crippen, Jr. had the unenviable position as “First Naperville Boy To Lose His Life in World War II.” He was killed “somewhere in the North American area” on June 18, 1943, after serving in the Army Air Corps for a year and a half. He left behind a wife, Theresa, and a baby daughter, Carol, who he had seen once. He would have been 24 on June 20, 1943.