Parents: William & Eva Willis

    - father died in 1920s 

Siblings: 1 sister

Hometown:

    - 1920 - Sunbury, Ohio

    - family lived on Washington Street in Beallsville, Ohio, when he was inducted

Inducted:

    - U. S. Army

         - 29 January 1941 - Fort Hayes, Columbus, Ohio

Training: 

- Fort Knox, Kentucky

- Camp Polk, Louisiana

Overseas Duty: 

- Philippine Islands

Engagements:

    - Battle of Luzon

        - 8 December 1941 - 6 January 1942 

    - Battle of Bataan

        - 7 January 1942 - 9 April 1942 

Prisoner of War: 

    - 9 April 1942

        - Death March

            - Mariveles - POWs start march at southern tip of Bataan
            - POWs ran past Japanese artillery firing at Corregidor
                - Americans on Corregidor returned fire
            - San Fernando - POWs put into small wooden boxcars
                - each boxcar could hold eight horses or forty men
                - 100 POWs packed into each car
                - POWs who died remained standing
            - Capas - dead fell to floor as living left boxcars
            - POWs walked last ten miles to Camp O'Donnell

POW Camps: 

- Philippine Islands: 

    - Camp O'Donnell

            - unfinished Filipino training base
            - Japanese put camp into use as POW Camp
            - only one water spigot for entire camp
            - as many as 50 POWs died each day

Died:

- 2 May 1942 - malaria  & dysentery

- Approximate time of death - 2:00 PM

Buried:

    Camp O'Donnell Cemetery

        - Section: C  Row:  3   Grave:  9
Reburied:

    - 1948 - Beallsville Cemetery - Beallsville, Ohio