William Newton Sleeth, “Newton Sleeth” was born on October 24, 1924 in Pennsylvania, the youngest son of Robert Sr. and Roxie Sleeth. The family lived on Post Avenue in Torrance.  Sleeth delivered newspapers for the Torrance Herald and attended Torrance High School where he was a member of the Junior Choir, track and cross country teams. He graduated with the Winter Class of 1943.  

He registered for the draft on December 18, 1942 while still a student and enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces on March 12, 1943.  He trained as an aviation cadet in Santa Ana, California; Glendale, Arizona; and then at Lemoore Army Air Field in California. Sleeth received the silver wings of a pilot and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in La Junta, Colorado on June 27, 1944. He was a member of Headquarters Squadron, 360th Services Group.

According to the Torrance Herald, Lt. Sleeth was home on furlough in December 1944, reported for duty later that month and was soon sent overseas. As part of his training, he endured a five-day trek in the New Guinea jungles where his party of airmen learned how to subsist in the wild with only a hunting knife. While Sleeth was away during this time, his engagement to Shirley Elaine Thompson, a senior at Torrance High, was announced.

The Army Air Forces’ declassified Missing Aircraft Report states that on February 9, 1945 Sleeth was the pilot of a Douglas A-20G, a fast attack light bomber with a total crew of three used in low-level sorties in the New Guinea Theater. His plane took off from Nadzab Airfield and was in a formation of four on a combat mission that attacked enemy forces on the east end of Muschu Island off Papua New Guinea. 

Captain David Gilliam, whose plane was in front, reported that after their planes had strafed and dropped bombs, there was black smoke and he saw Sleeth’s plane on the beach, partially in the water, and “burning furiously.” He stated that based on the condition of this plane, it was likely that Sleeth and his two crewmen were killed instantly.

Interrogation of Japanese soldiers shortly after the war revealed that Sleeth’s plane was shot down by machine gun fire. It nosedived and burst into flames as it hit the ground. Initially reported as missing, he and his crew were later declared dead and each received the Purple Heart and Air Medal posthumously.  Second Lieutenant William Sleeth is memorialized on the Wall of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines as well the Torrance Veterans Memorial Wall.  

The Sleeth family was very patriotic and had deep roots in the community. The father Robert Sleeth Sr. was a Sergeant in World War I, fought in France with the American Expeditionary Forces, and received the Purple Heart. Both he and his wife were active in the Torrance American Legion and Auxiliary.   

The older brother, First Lieutenant Robert Sleeth Jr., was a company commander in charge of 17 tanks in the Third Armored Division overseas during the war, and survived after being shot in the abdomen by a German sniper. He was a Purple Heart, Silver Star Medal and Cluster recipient who was later nominated by President Truman to serve as Postmaster of the Walteria Post Office.