William Grahm

McNamee

William G. “Will” McNamee, a Marine Corps combat veteran of Vietnam, retired Air Force Senior Master Sergeant, poet and photographer, died peacefully on October 29, 2026, in Seattle, Washington, with his family by his side. He was 78.

Will was born on December 10, 1947, in Kansas City, Kansas, and grew up in Milton, a small town in northwest Florida. After graduating from high school in 1965, he attended Florida Technical College in Jacksonville.

In October 1968, Will was drafted into the U.S. Marine Corps. After boot camp at Parris Island, he served at sea aboard the USS Guam before deploying to Vietnam with Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division. There he served as an infantry platoon sergeant, leading a 25-man platoon on combat missions, and later as squad leader of an anti-tank assault team. He also served as a “tunnel rat,” crawling into enemy tunnels with little more than a flashlight and a sidearm. Decades later he wrote that what steadied his hands in the dark was picturing the face of his infant son, Alan, at home. He was honorably released from active duty and remained, in his words, “the Marine I’ll always be.”

On August 25, 1971, Will enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, serving at Eglin AFB, Florida; Hahn Air Base, Germany; Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio; Andrews AFB, Maryland; Keesler AFB, Mississippi; Lindsey Air Station in Wiesbaden, Germany; and Lackland AFB, Texas. He was named Headquarters Air Force Systems Command NCO of the Year for 1984. At Keesler AFB he served as First Sergeant for more than 500 airmen. In Germany, as president of the First Sergeants’ Council, he helped raise more than $150,000 for charitable causes and was selected as Wiesbaden Community First Sergeant of the Year in 1990 and 1991. In 1992 and 1993 he volunteered twice for international relief convoys (German Polizei, British Bobbies, and U.S. Air Force Security Police) that delivered medical supplies, food, and clothing to orphanages and hospitals in post-communist Romania. Will was always looking to improve whatever organization with whom he worked. Many of his ideas submitted to the Air Force Suggestion Program were adopted locally. Two suggestions were adopted Air Force-wide: one improved patient nutritional care, and another changed the First Sergeant insignia on the uniform. While serving, he earned three associate degrees through the Community College of the Air Force.

Will retired as a Senior Master Sergeant at Lackland AFB on October 31, 1994. His decorations included three Meritorious Service Medals, four Air Force Commendation Medals, the Air Force Achievement Medal, the Army Achievement Medal, the Humanitarian Service Medal, the Marine Corps Combat Action Ribbon, the Vietnam Cross of Gallantry, and the Vietnam Service and Campaign Medals.

On June 6, 1980, Will married Corinne (Kraft) McNamee, his “steady companion through every troubled moment and every joyful season.” In 1983 they welcomed twin sons, Shane and Austin. Together, Will and Corinne raised a family across more than a dozen moves throughout their dual Air Force careers. “You gave me a home no matter where the Air Force sent us,” he wrote to her. They celebrated their 46th anniversary this past June.

After Will retired in 1994, he worked for several years at World Savings Bank. Known for his kindness and fairness, Will never hesitated to speak up, whatever someone's title, when he felt customers or coworkers deserved better. When Shane and Austin entered high school in 1998, he joined Corinne as a parent volunteer with the boys’ marching band as they traveled to football games and competitions around Texas.

Will also played active roles in each community in which he lived. He served for many years as homeowners’ association president of the Braun Oaks neighborhood in San Antonio, Texas, and later at the Pacific Tower Condominium Association in Tacoma, Washington.

Will always said he could write better than he could talk, and he proved it. His first poem, “Thank God for the Vet,” came years after a protester spat on him when he returned home from Vietnam; it became his tribute to everyone who has served. From then on he wrote poems for nearly every occasion: anniversaries and Mother’s Days for Corinne, Christmas verses for his children, birthday wishes for friends, and lines celebrating his neighbors and his community. He was also an avid photographer who loved to capture nature “through Nikon eyes.” In recent years he and Corinne found new friends and a warm community at Eliseo in Tacoma, Washington.

Throughout his illness, Will showed the same courage and calm he brought to everything. In a farewell letter to his family, he wrote that life’s joy comes “not from grand events, but from the people who sit beside you day after day,” and asked them to keep supporting and celebrating one another. “I have lived, I have loved, and I have been blessed beyond measure.”

Will is survived by his wife of 46 years, Corinne; his children Alan (Laura) McNamee, Aundria McNamee Zanella (Gian Luca), Shane McNamee (Casey Dilloway), and Austin McNamee (Jimmy McCue); his grandchildren Celeste, Meagan, and Michael; his great-granddaughter Harper; his siblings Daniel, Patty, Kay, Fay, Doug, Larry, and Glen; and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, Wayne and Betty (Balster) McNamee, and siblings Donald and Suzie.

Inurnment with military honors will take place at Tahoma National Cemetery in Kent, Washington, at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to Disabled American Veterans (DAV).

“For life was full, and love was wide, and I walk this last stretch dignified.”

– Will McNamee, “My Final Journey”

Will’s First and Last Poems:

My Final Journey

When stage‑four cancer calls your name, the world tilts hard, it’s never the same. Shock and sorrow strike fast and deep, a truth so heavy it steals your sleep.

But my family brought the news to me, with love, with tears, with honesty. We stood together, heart to heart, facing the storm, not torn apart.

I’ve lived a life both wide and long, in service proud, in duty strong. Air Force skies and Marine Corps ground— in every place, my purpose found.

Four children blessed my grateful days, each one a light in different ways. Grandkids followed, bright and fair, and a great‑granddaughter beyond compare.

In Eliseo’s peace we found new friends, warm voices near as my journey bends. I write my poems when feelings rise, and capture nature through Nikon eyes.

Now as my road draws near its end, I ask for time with family and friends. To stay at home, where love is true, and pass in peace when my days are through.

No hospital halls, no endless pain— just gentle comfort, soft as rain. A quiet room, familiar air, and every face I cherish there.

For life was full, and love was wide, and I walk this last stretch dignified. With gratitude for all I’ve known, I face the dusk—yet not alone.

-Will McNamee, 10/15/2026

Thank God for the Vet

The Vets of World Wars I and II were praised when they came home

We forgot the Vets who fought in Korea as they came back alone

The Vets of Vietnam were spat on and profaned on their return

Desert Storm and Iraq brought back respect that Vets so justly earned

Veterans truly know what dictators and tyrants can do

They fought in foreign lands to keep this far from you

They know the peace that comes when providing a helping hand

They also know the pain of fighting and dying in a foreign land

Thank God for the Vets who protect our promised land

It is beside them that so proudly you should always stand

Don’t ever forget what our Vets have done for thee

They alone fought and died to keep our country free

Who better would know what it is truly like to go so far away

To reside in hell and battle tyranny day after day

I thank my God for all He’s given me

I thank Him for allowing me to be a Vet and free!

- Will McNamee (first written in the 1990s)