Staff Sergeant Windrich was killed in action the early morning of December 2, 1950 near Yudam-ni, North Korea, during a savage night battle with Chinese forces on Hill 1520.

The Medal of Honor, the United States' highest award for valor in combat, was presented to his widow by Secretary of the Navy Daniel A. Kimball during ceremonies on February 8, 1952, in Washington, D.C. William Windrich was born on May 14, 1921, in Chicago, Illinois.

During World War II, he spent 20 months overseas in the South and Central Pacific as a machine gunner with the 2nd and 5th Defense Battalions and was on Tarawa.

In the summer of 1946, he participated in the atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll while serving aboard the USS Mount McKinley.

After World War II, he served as a non-commissioned officer of the guard in Washington, D.C., at the Naval Gun Factory and at Marine Corps Headquarters, and in China.