Ka cika wannan magana: An haifi William W. Rogers a ranar 25 ga Disamba, 1893, a Thorntown, Indiana. Bayan ya halarci makarantu na gida, ya kammala karatun digiri na Bachelor of Science daga Jami'ar Miami a Oxford, Ohio, a shekara ta 1914. Daga bisani ya shiga cikin Rundunar Sojan Ruwa a ranar 30 ga Yuni, 1917, kuma an sanya shi zuwa Babban Ofishin, 6th Marine Regiment. Rogers ya fara shiga aikin kare kariya a kusa da Toulon kuma daga bisani ya zama dan jarida a cikin
Yaƙin Belleau Wood da Yaƙin Soissons a lokacin bazara na 1918. Ya yi yaƙi da bambanci kuma ya sami mukaminsa na filin dagawa zuwa na biyu a ranar 16 ga Agusta, 1918.