The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/340091
A-8 Wednesday, July 2, 2014 The Press-Dispatch By Ed Cahill For more than 60 years, James Willis was reluctant to talk about his experienc- es during World War II, in- cluding his wounding dur- ing the battle for Okinawa in May 1945. "It wasn't because it dis- turbed me so much, because I didn't come back with any psychological problem about it," Willis said. "The reason I didn't want to talk was I felt like people might think I was bragging about it, or that I was a hero." "I didn't want that," the 90 -year-old Willis contin- ued. "I needed no one's sym- pathy. I went there and did what was required of me and got hit. I was fortunate that I got out with just a shoulder wound." Five years ago, however, Willis – who grew up approx- imately three miles south of Petersburg in Clark's Sta- tion (now known as Willis- ville) – decided to chronicle the historical events in his lifetime. "I read somewhere when a person dies, a library of information is lost," Willis said. "So about five years ago, I started writing, and, you know, the more you write, the more you think about what happened way back and all. And I got so much I thought that maybe I ought to write about my mil- itary experience and related things separately." Willis' book, "The Odys- sey of a Purple Heart Vet: The Battle of Okinawa," begins with his gradua- tion from Petersburg High School in April 1941 – three days before his 17th birth- day – and tells the story of his military career through his discharge from the U.S. Army in June 1946. In December 1941, Willis was working part-time for an apartment building manag- er in exchange for lodging while attending Purdue Uni- versity's School of Forestry. "Sitting in his office one Sunday, while he and his wife went for a drive, he came back and he said, 'Jim, have you heard the news? Japan bombed Pearl Har- bor! ' And that was the be- ginning." Willis was subsequent- ly drafted and, on Sept. 14, 1944, boarded a Greyhound bus in front of the Pike County Courthouse for the trip to Camp Atterbury near Columbus, Ind. A fter being processed, Willis was transported by train to Camp Blanding in Florida for basic training. Upon completion of the 17-week basic training pro- gram, Willis received or- ders to report to Camp Ord in California. "I knew then I would defi- nitely be going to the Pacific War Theater," Willis writes. Four days after arriving at Fort Ord, Willis board- ed a troop ship that trans- ported him to Hawaii for a week of jungle warfare train- ing before being shipped to Saipan. It was while on Saipan that Willis learned that Germa- ny had surrendered on April 8, 1945. Four days later, the death of President Franklin Roosevelt was announced. "Japan's chief operating officer for Okinawa report- ed that the Japanese troops took it as glorious news," Willis writes. "Their spir- its were lifted, and they were led to believe that the death of our president would weaken us such that they might regain their enemy occupied territory. Imperi- al Headquarters was ecstat- ic, thinking that the Ameri- can troops would discontin- ue their battle on Okinawa and would leave the island. Their staff officers seemed convinced that now the Jap- anese would surely win the war. They did not realize that America was going to take Okinawa, whether or not the Japanese fought to the last man." Three weeks after ar- riving at Saipan, Willis re- ceived orders to pack up and get ready to ship out, but not told where he was going. "We were well aware there was heavy fighting at that time on Okinawa; a place that none of us had ev- er heard of before," Willis writes. "While on Saipan, the news we got was that the Army and the Marines on Okinawa were meeting heavy resistance, resulting in heavy casualties. That was worrisome news! " Ten days later, Willis' ship arrived off Okinawa, where he was subsequently as- signed to Company C of the 77th Infantry Division. "Okinawa was a rug- ged place," Willis recalled. "From what we could see, we saw nothing civilized at all. It was just a shot up coun- tryside, torn up huts, some- times little settlements that were just all completely de- stroyed." The 77th Infantry Di- vision was given the task of taking Shuri Castle, a 15th century fort that once housed Okinawa's feudal kings on the south end of the island. "They did, finally, but I got hit before I got there," Willis said. With the Japanese sol- diers hiding in the island's seemingly countless caves, Willis recalled how an offi- cer explained how to use a flamethrower. "The operator would have to sneak up close to the cave opening, while a machine gun team covered him by firing into the opening," Willis writes. "That forced them to retreat to the inte- rior. Then the flamethrower could advance close enough to the cave to shoot flames into the cave. Although the flame might not reach some of those further back in the cave, many would suffocate from the smoke and fumes." On May 17, 1945, Wil- lis' captain asked for volun- teers to accompany a tank in an effort to rescue men who had been wounded in an earlier assault on Ishim- mi Ridge. "As usual I was ready, but not eager, to volunteer if I could help in any way," Wil- lis writes. "While standing there by the tank, waiting for volunteers and draftees, I felt something slam into my left shoulder! The force of the thud knocked me to the ground. I realized that I had been hit! " When his jacket and shirt were removed, Willis could see blood spurting from a bullet hole in the front of his shoulder. "Knowing the danger of losing a lot of blood, I put my finger on the hole to stop the flow," Willis writes. "I told the medic to patch the hole in my back, while I held my finger on the front one." After patching both wounds and giving Willis a shot of morphine, the med- ic formed Willis' shirt in- to a make-shift sling and showed him a trail, telling him to "Just keep going, there will be plenty of guys back that way to direct you to a first aid station." "I filled my rifle and back- pack with all my belongings and started walking down the narrow trail, shaken but alive," Willis writes. "Maybe it was the morphine, or the shock, but I was so relieved at leaving the front lines that I hardly felt any pain in my shoulder. The thought of getting to leave that place overshadowed everything in that moment. I felt God had spared my life for some reason." A fter undergoing surgery in a field hospital on Okina- wa, Willis was transported first to Guam, then trans- ferred to Hawaii. "One day an army officer came striding into the room and proceeded to walk up to my bed," Willis writes. "I wondered why he was there to see me. To my surprise, he reached out and pinned a medal on my pajama top! He had just presented me with the Purple Heart Medal, which was given to soldiers wounded in battle. It was such a surprise, because I had never heard about the medal." Willis was subsequently shipped to San Francisco, then transported by train to a large recuperation and rehabilitation hospital in Nashville, Tenn., where he learned, following the atom- ic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, that Japan had surrendered. "When that happened, it was time to celebrate," Wil- lis said. "Nashville was real- ly hilarious that night ... but we were not allowed to leave the camp." Referring to the atom- ic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Willis said, "It was a horrible thing to do, but it was necessary." "As I always tell people when I'm talking about it, we never need to be proud we had to go kill people," Willis said. "We don't need to be proud we dropped the atomic bomb, but we were proud that we were willing to go fight for freedom." "And we won freedom, not only for our country, but Ja- pan and Germany, which were dictatorship coun- tries," Willis added. "They became democracies be- cause the United States went in there and set up a democratic government. So we won freedom not only for us but for them, too. But it cost a lot of lives doing so." Willis was subsequently ordered to report to San An- tonio, Texas, for reassign- ment to active military duty. There, he received orders to report to the Army Ground Forces at Fort Bragg, N.C. "I thought it was the most desolate place in the world," Willis said. "White sand, scrubby oaks. Why did I ev- er have to come here? But I thought I could endure it." On weekends, however, Willis would catch the bus to Fayetteville to attend Sun- day services at the Church of God, where he spotted a pretty girl in the choir. "The second or third time I went to the church, 'the girl' and I sat close to one another in Sunday School class," Willis writes. "We exchanged glances, then addresses after becoming acquainted." Willis learned that her name was Berline Barefoot and that she worked at the Rose's Five and Ten Cent Store after school on week- days and Saturdays. "That was the most im- portant thing I learned in Sunday School that day! '" Willis writes. "From that time on, things really start- ed looking up around Fort Bragg. I began finding op- portunities to visit Rose's Five and Dime. Fayetteville had suddenly become a very interesting city! " Following Willis' dis- charge at Camp Atterbury, he would return to Fayette- ville, where he and Berline Barefoot were married on July 5, 1946. The newlyweds would make their first home in Bloomington, Ind., where Willis attended Indiana Uni- versity, earning his bache- lor's degree in 1949 and his master's degree in school administration three years later. They then moved to southern Indiana, where Willis worked for six years in teaching and administra- tive positions, including two years as principal at Otwell School. "A lot of schools were run by township trustees and they had their notion of hir- ing a person for a year or two and then get another one, so I moved about a lit- tle bit," Willis said. "I final- ly ended up in Shelby Coun- ty, teaching a fourth grade class." After retiring from teach- ing in 1988, Willis has con- tinued working as a substi- tute teacher in Indianapolis and, for the past three years, in Fort Worth, Texas. Willis said that his wife and their children had been a big help in preparing his first book for publication. "They're pretty sharp," Willis said of his children. "They've been a lot of help to me and have helped me put it together. My older daughter was really a main- stay of this one here. Now my younger daughter has been the one to really help me finish up the other one. We call it a journey book, a plan through life." The Willis' youngest daughter, DeAnn Willis Flint, said that her father's book was an eye-opening experience for the entire family. "There's just so many things that, reading this, we didn't even know, that he'd never told us," Flint said. "It's been real interesting." "For years, I did not talk about it," Willis said. "In fact, my wife did not know I had been wounded until after we had been married some time." "The wound saved my life and brought me back whole," Willis added. "And I've been very grateful for that." The Willises will be cele- brating their 68th wedding anniversary on Saturday, Ju- ly 5. "It hasn't been all ice cream and roses, but we've weathered the storms," Wil- lis said. "She don't like for me to use that expression, but that's just the truth of it, you know. If two people are just exactly alike, one of them is not needed." Willis said that he was mostly pleased with his first book. "I expect, just like all writ- ers, I see things that I might have included and done a lit- tle different," Willis said. "But I'm happy with it. I'm proud of it." Copies of Willis' book, "The Odyssey of a Purple Heart Vet: The Battle of Oki- nawa," can be purchased by visiting www.indianamil- itaryveteran.ecrater.com. For more information, con- tact Willis at P.O. Box 39512, Indianapolis, IN 46239 or by calling (317) 495 -2958. Book recounts Pike County man's service during WWII James Beverly willis poses with a copy of his book, "the odyssey of a Purple heart Vet: the Battle of okinawa," during an appearance June 27 at the Pike County Public library in Petersburg. Ed Cahill photo Bring in this ad to receive $ 25 CASH Toward products or services on your next visit!* J. Clay Bigham, O.D. Jeffrey D. Irvin, O.D. Adam J. Russ, O.D. Heather R. Russ, O.D. 251 N. MaiN Street, OaklaNd City 812-749-3700 *Certain restrictions apply. For production or service at Oakland City Eyecare only. 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