Shomo, William Arthur, born on 30-05-1918, in Jeannette, Pennsylvania, 
to George Washington Shomo and Bertha May, born Uncapher, Shomo. 
He had one brother, Imogene Louise Shomo Casey (1924 – not known). William in 1940 married. Helen Ruth, born McCullough Shomo (1920–2008). The couple had one son and one daughter Richard Alan “Rick”Shomo 
(1943–2009) and Carol Anne Shomo (1947–1947)
William attended the Cincinnati College of Embalming and the Pittsburgh School of Embalming between 1937 and 1940, and then he worked as a mortician for a short time before enlisting in the Aviation Cadet Program 
of the United States Army Air Forces on 18-08-1941. His father’s family was from the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, area and, prior to his father’s birth, were survivors of the 1889 Johnstown Flood with his uncle, Adam Franklin “Frank” Shomo, being the last known living survivor of the flood. The Johnstown Flood, 
sometimes referred to locally as the Great Flood of 1889, occurred on Friday, 31-05-1889, after the catastrophic failure of the South Fork Dam, 
located on the south fork of the Little Conemaugh River, 14 miles (23 km) upstream of the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, United States. The dam ruptured after several days of extremely heavy rainfall, releasing 14.55 million cubic meters of water. With a volumetric flow rate that temporarily equaled the average flow rate of the Mississippi River, the flood killed 2,208 people and accounted for US$17,000,000 (equivalent to about $590,000,000 in 2024) in damage.
Shomo joined the United States Army Air Corps from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in August 1941. For over a year, Shomo was assigned to the 82nd Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron. 
under command of Major-General Donald Gordon Medd Nelson.
Chgomo’s unit had moved from airstrip to airstrip along the northern coast of New Guinea and then to Morotai supporting General Douglas MacArthur‘s 
drive to the Philippines performing dangerous photo recon and ground attack missions. His squadron was equipped with older P-39 Airacobras 
and Curtiss P-40s, 
which were adequate for the photo recon/ground attack role, but too short-ranged to reach areas where they might encounter Japanese aircraft.
In December 1944, the squadron was given F-6Ds; P-51 Mustangs designed for armed photo reconnaissance. On 24 December, Shomo was put in command of the squadron and ordered to move it to Mindoro, an island off the southwest coast of Luzon, to support MacArthur’s landing at Lingayen Gulf. 
During that landing on January 9, Shomo led his first combat mission in the squadron’s new planes. The low-level reconnaissance was to gather intelligence on the air strength of Japanese in northern Luzon. They approached the Japanese airfield at Tuguegarao, where he scored his first air victory, an Aichi D3A “Val” dive bomber coming in on its final approach.
Shomo had been in the undertaker business before the war. He named all his aircraft “Snooks” (plus the appropriate numeral) to note this. The F-6D in which he won his Medal of Honor 
was “Snooks 5”; this aircraft was later lost while being flown by another pilot. The next F-6D was briefly “Snooks 6” but was changed to “The Flying Undertaker”. Though Shomo flew more than 200 combat missions in World War II, he saw only a total of 14 enemy aircraft from his cockpit and destroyed eight of them.
Two days after his first victory, on 11-01-1945, Captain Shomo and his wingman, Lieutenant Paul Lipscomb, 
were heading north for the Japanese airfields at Tuguegarao, Aparri, and Laoag, when they saw several enemy planes flying south at about 2,500 feet (760 m). Despite being outnumbered, they immediately pulled Immelman turns and found themselves behind 11 Kawasaki Ki-61 “Tonys” and one Nakajima Ki-44 “Tojo” escorting a Mitsubishi G4M “Betty” bomber. 
On their first pass through the formation, Shomo closed to less than 40 yards (37 m) before opening fire. He shot down four Tonys, then came up under the bomber, firing into its belly. The bomber caught fire and began to lose altitude as its pilot attempted to crash-land the plane. Two of the Tonys escorting the bomber stayed with it as it went down. Shomo pulled up in a tight vertical spiral to gain altitude while the Tojo turned to engage him. The Japanese fighter fired until it stalled and slipped into the clouds. The Betty exploded as it bellied in, and the two escorting Tonys broke away, staying low. Shomo made a second diving pass at the two Tonys and downed them both. In under six minutes, Shomo had shot down seven enemy planes, becoming an “ace in one day.” (Only one other American fighter pilot scored more confirmed victories in a single mission: Navy Commander David McCampbell, 
with nine confirmed victories and two probables on 24-10-1944.) Meanwhile, his wingman shot down three of the remaining six planes. The three other Japanese planes fled.
By 01-04-1945, Shomo had been promoted to Major and was awarded the Medal of Honor for leading an attack against heavy odds and destroying seven enemy aircraft.
He would stay with the Air Force after the war and was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel on 20-02-1951. He then was assigned to Colorado and served in operations and training assignments for a year. In March 1952, he became Executive, Commander and Administrative Officer for the 175th Fighter Interceptor Squadron (FIS) 
at Rapid City Air Force Base (AFB), South Dakota. He directed combat operations at Headquarters 31st Air Division in St. Paul, Minnesota for about a year, and then became Commander of the 14th FIS 
at Sioux City, Iowa. He also commanded a similar squadron, the 59th FIS, at Goose Bay, Labrador in January 1955, and that June, led the squadron to victory in the Northeast Air Command Rocket Meet.
Lieutenant Colonel Shomo next became Commander of Headquarters, 473rd Air Defense Group and in July 1957 took over the 54th Fighter Group at the Greater Pittsburgh Airport. In January 1958, he became Executive Officer for HQ 79th Fighter Group at Youngstown Municipal Airport in Ohio. His last assignment was at Thule AFB, Greenland, with the 4683rd Air Defense Wing, before retiring in 1968.
Deathg and burial ground of Shomo, William Arthur.
William Arthur Shomo died on 25-06-1990, age 72 and is buried in St. Clair Cemetery in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Section D, Lot 134.
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