Voorheis, of Cornell, IL, served in the Marine Corps with the 2nd Marine Division during World War II in the Pacific Theater. He was a member of a machine gun team, and was severely wounded on the beach during the invasion of Tarawa. In the words of Voorheis "On Tarawa, our Higgins boats were stranded on the coral and the Japs had them pretty well in their mortar sights; lots were blown out of the water. I was lucky. We got out of ours and headed for the shore. I know I was along that pier. I think it was the red zone. By then, no one was with their units, and I didn't even know the unit I wound up with. I didn't last long enough to do much."

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Actually, Bill Voorheis was not all that lucky. He was hit three times by a Japanese machine gun. Luckily, one of the bullets was deflected by a religious medal around his neck. After receiving morphine on the beach for his wounds, he was hit two more times by rifle fire and spent two years in the hospital for his wounds.