William Laubner was born in Ludwigshafen, Germany in November 1919. He had a younger sister. His family moved to New York when he was three years old. An aunt in America sponsored them so they had no financial worries. His father had been a locksmith in Germany but worked as an iron worker in the United States. Laubner's father had served in the German military during World War 1 and had been gassed during that conflict. When Laubner started elementary school, he could not speak English. The family moved to Florida but a hurricane wiped them out so they moved back to New York. Laubner finished high school and went to work in the insurance business. He began college but had to stop because of work demands. After the war, Laubner joined his parents in Pennsylvania and went into the printing trade. He heard about the attack on Pearl Harbor over the radio while he was at home. He was anxious to fight against the Japanese but had no qualms about flying over Germany and fighting against his former homeland. It never bothered him to end up in the ETO [Annotator's Note: European Theater of Operations]. Laubner was opposed to Hitler [Annotator's Note: German dictator Adolf Hitler]. In 1940, Laubner wanted to join the aviation cadets but did not meet the physical requirements. He was drafted in January 1942 shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

William Laubner went to Fort Dix, New Jersey after entering the Army. He received basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky. Because of his previous motorcycle experience, he was assigned to an armored division. A portion of his group was sent to North Africa with the 1st Armored Division. Laubner was not selected for that group. Instead, he went to Camp Cooke in California. The 5th Armored Division was being organized there. Laubner was a motorcyclist with a reconnaissance company. He rode through mountainous terrain at night with little lighting to aid him. While there, he observed flights from a nearby airbase. He put in for a transfer and passed the entry examinations for flight training. He was granted leave to return home before he started pre-flight training. As part of his psychiatric evaluation, it was determined that he had no issue with fighting against Germany even though it was his birthplace. He entered cadet training in September 1942 and graduated from advanced training at Williams Field, Arizona in August 1943. It was hot during his advanced training and engines were prone to overheat. Flying the P-322, which was the forerunner of the P-38 [Annotator's Note: Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter aircraft], Laubner flew out of what was to become Edwards Airbase. He had similar overheating issues with the engine in the desert. Flying in the Pacific must have been aided by cooler sea breezes. Laubner enjoyed flying the P-38. It was easier on take-off than the P-51 [Annotator's Note: North American P-51 Mustang fighter aircraft] and P-47 [Annotator's Note: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighter aircraft]. After D-Day [Annotator's Note: 6 June 1944], the P-38s were replaced by P-51s. One enemy shot to the coolant system and the P-38 engine was done. The P-47 was a robust airplane, but the P-51 also suffered if it was hit in the coolant system. The 8th Airforce P-47 pilots made numerous aces. Zemke [Annotator's Note: US Army Air Forces Colonel Hubert "Hub" Zemke] was one of many aces who flew a P-47. Laubner was deployed to England on the Mauritania. It was unescorted because the troopship was so fast.

After reaching England, William Laubner and other new arrivals were indoctrinated by a major at Goxhill. The Americans were told about the local population and things that could be deemed offensive to them. Afterward, he was sent out to the 55th Fighter Group [Annotator’s Note: 38th Fighter Squadron, 55th Fighter Group, 8th Air Force]. Laubner wanted to get through his required 50 missions and return home. A friend had accomplished 48 missions within five months. During D-Day [Annotator's Note: 6 June 1944] some pilots flew two to three missions a day. P-38s [Annotator's Note: Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter aircraft] were used to cover the D-Day troops because of their twin boom design. They were easily recognizable as an Allied aircraft and less likely to suffer from friendly fire. Laubner's first mission was in February or March [Annotator's Note: 1944]. He was shot down on his 11th mission in April. When morning broke on an escort mission, the bomber crews had already been briefed hours before the fighter pilots. The bombers took a long time to prepare, take-off and circle prior to heading to the objective. The fighters could be briefed and fly quickly to their rendezvous points with the bombers. Consequently, fighter pilot briefings were much later in the morning. Missions blanketed the map of Europe. Red lines would be drawn between the base and the target objective. Location for heavy enemy antiaircraft or pursuit aircraft would be indicated on the map. On 15 April [Annotator's Note: 1944], the red line crossed Europe all the way to southeast of Berlin. The 55th could reach that distance because they were fitted with belly tanks. [Annotator's Note: The North American P-51 Mustangs fighter aircraft were long range fighters able to jettison their extra fuel tank mounted on their belly prior to entry into a dogfight. P-51s were issued to the 55th Fighetr Group as replacements for the Lockheed P-38 Lightening fightr aircraft.] The 55th was the first fighter group of the 8th Air Force to fly over Berlin. Sometimes the fighters barely made it back to England, but the pilots knew they did not want to ditch in the English Channel. Pilots would be notified of the next day's flight the night before. The 55th preferred flying escort on B-17s [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber] more than B-24s [Annotator's Note: Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber]. The B-17s seemed to fly a tighter formation for the escorting fighters to protect. The fighters could evade the flak much more effectively than the bombers. Laubner's brother-in-law managed to complete 38 missions in a B-17, a highly unusual achievement. The B-17 was shot up but managed to keep going and returned to base.

William Laubner was assigned to fly overhead cover on a mission near Berlin, Germany. The other portion of the fighter group was to strafe targets of opportunity below. Laubner's flight leader told his flight to go to a lower altitude so that they could strafe the enemy also. Laubner shot up several targets but on the flight home, he and a wingman flew through heavy flak. The plane in front of Laubner did not catch enemy fire. Laubner did and his reserve fuel tank ignited. After unsuccessfully attempting to extinguish the flame, he found a flat location to force land. As he was descending, he cut the tops of trees off with his wings. Coming to a stop after his crash landing, he got out of a plane and was immediately approached by three Germans, two men and a woman. He had only his knife for protection. Bomber crews were often executed by civilians who had been previously bombed. The civilians were wary of Laubner because he was armed with a knife. It was a pretty scary situation.

William Laubner crash landed his airplane near an antiaircraft camp. It was not too long before he was surrounded by Germans. He was brought to the camp and interrogated by several German officers. Laubner was then taken to town and put into the prison there. Although a piece of shrapnel had cut his flight jacket, his body was not injured by the metal. He was taken to Nuremberg on the way to Zagań. Nuremberg seemed to be like Grand Central Station. Laubner could observe damages to the city. He was protected from the populace by German sentries. He was being taken to Stalag Luft III when he was placed in a cell with only rudimentary accommodations. He was taken to interrogation. The German interrogator spoke perfect English. Laubner refused to give anything other than name, rank, and serial number. The enemy officer then conveyed detailed information about Laubner's squadron. It surprised the captured pilot. The German even talked about Jolly Jack Jenkins [Annotator's Note: US Army Air Forces Colonel Jack S. Jenkins] the air group commander for the 55th Fighter Group. Jenkins had been shot down only a few days before Laubner. Laubner was surprised with the extent of information the German knew. The German revealed that he was originally from New Jersey. Laubner met a squadron mate, Joe Hummel, while at the interrogation center. They would meet him again at Stalag Luft III.

William Laubner was in Stalag Luft III [Annotator's Note: near Zagań, Germany (now Poland)] as a POW [Annotator's Note: prisoners of war]. They were eventually moved to Moosberg. He saw pathetic Jewish prisoners at Moosberg. They had been mistreated by the Germans. While at Nuremberg, he heard air raid sirens and saw the sky light up with searchlights. He was concerned that the POW camp would be bombed. It did not happen. The night was lit up by the bombing and the antiaircraft flak. Laubner witnessed two or three bombers being shot down. Next was the march to Moosberg. Two of Laubner's companions escaped, but he could not join them because of blisters on his feet. He gave them his rations to help them in their break out. Soon, Laubner would be liberated by Patton [Annotator's Note: US Army Lieutenant General George S. Patton]. Patton was quite a showman. From there, Laubner went to Camp Lucky Strike. He went home in a convoy. Laubner brought home several souvenirs. He entered the United States through New York.

William Laubner never flew after the war. A P-38 [Annotator's Note: Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter aircraft] could have been bought for a cheap price but the cost of keeping and maintaining it would have been problematic. Laubner was assigned to rehabilitation after returning home. That was due to him being captured by the Germans and spending time as a POW [Annotator's Note: prisoners of war]. After rehab, he was assigned to the 56th Fighter Group as a supply officer. The 56th was a famed squadron due to the number of its aces flying in Europe during the war. The commanding officer was Dave Schilling [Annotator's Note: US Army Air Forces Colonel David Schilling]. He checked out in P-47 [Annotator's Note: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighter aircraft]. Next, he flew a P-51 [Annotator's Note: North American P-51 Mustang fighter aircraft] which was a beautiful, easy airplane to fly. Laubner considered making the Air Force a career. Instead, he was discharged. It was for the best because the 56th ended up in Alaska. Laubner spent 22 years with the active and reserve Air Force and was discharged as a major.