"Bill" Cullerton Sr. (June 2, 1923 – January 12, 2013) was an American World War II flying ace, entrepreneur, radio show host, and outdoorsman.

[1][2] He was the last surviving ace of the 355th Fighter Group ("Dragon Squadron"), which flew missions out of Steeple Morden, England, during World War II.

[1] Cullerton was born in Chicago and raised in Oak Park, Illinois, graduated from Fenwick High School.

"[1] On April 8, 1945, Cullerton was shot down strafing the airfield at Ansbach, Germany near the end of the war, crashing on a hillside near German forces.

[1][2] Cullerton described the attack in an interview years later, "They had a short meeting, and the guy came back to me, holding my gun in his hand, and he said to me, 'For you, the 'war' is over' — and he shot me in the belly.

"[1] A Jewish doctor helped him escape the hospital, telling him to jump from a window into a heap of sheep manure.

Cullerton correctly identified Williams as the "Splendid Splinter" of the Boston Red Sox, proving that he was an American before collapsing.

[4] He championed an effort to install an artificial reef off the coast of Chicago in Lake Michigan to improve the habitat available for native fish.

[4] The William J. Cullerton Complex includes the 4,160-acre Illinois State Park and the North Point Marina on Lake Michigan, which is capable of holding approximately 1,500 boats.

[4] Cullerton died at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove, Illinois, on January 12, 2013, at the age of 89.

[1] A longtime resident of Oak Brook, Illinois, Cullerton and his wife also owned a second home in Marco Island, Florida.