Corporal William S. (Bill) Cunningham was born at Deep Run, North Carolina on February 6, 1932. He joined the Army as soon as he turned seventeen. He was a member of Headquaters and Headquarters Company, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. During the battle of the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea, on November 30, 1950 he was report to be Missing in Action. He remains have never been recovered. He was declared dead on February 15, 1954.

On September 11, 2010, his remaining four siblings place a marker in family cemetery at the Deep Run Original Free Will Baptist Church.