Saturday, April 19, 2003

Veteran's son passes legacy to students

Gerald Willis of Roanoke plans to set up a fund to sponsor field trips to the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford.

By JOEL TURNER
THE ROANOKE TIMES

   On the day that his father was buried in November, a young girl asked Gerald Willis a question.

    What is D-Day?

    The question had an emotional significance for Willis because his father, Robert Willis, was a veteran of both World War II and the Korean War. His father participated in the D-Day invasion.

    Willis didn't ask the girl her name or age, but he said she seemed to be old enough to be in middle school.

    He said the question made him realize that many school children today don't know about World War II and the thousands of American soldiers who died in the war.

    "I think it's a shame that we live in an area so close to the D-Day Memorial in Bedford and many children don't know what it means," Willis said.

    "If not for D-Day, we would not be here," he said. "I want every kid in the Roanoke Valley to know what D-Day was."

    Willis' father grew up in Floyd County. He was a construction worker after serving in the Army in two wars.

    When the elder Willis died in November at age 85, he left $10,000 to his son.

    Willis, 44, of Roanoke intends to donate $5,000 of the money to the Roanoke School Board to help pay for field trips to take sixth- and seventh-graders to see the memorial.

    Willis, who works for a manufacturer of corrugated containers, said he first considered donating the money to the memorial. But he decided it could best be used to help students understand the sacrifice of soldiers on D-Day.

    Willis said his father wasn't wealthy, but he was stingy and saved his money. "He never threw away anything. He was tough as a nail."

    Willis said the dedication of the National D-Day Memorial on June 6, 2001, was a highlight of his father's life.

    Willis took his father, who was 83 at the time, to the ceremony where President George W. Bush spoke. His father was thin, frail and in poor health. He had been in and out of hospitals, but he wanted to go to see the memorial and the ceremony.

    Willis took many photographs of his father and other veterans at the dedication. He has collected copies of newspaper stories about the event and compiled a scrapbook, titled "In Honor of Our D-Day Veterans."

    Willis said it was also one of the proudest days of his life because of what his father and other veterans did for this country.

    "It was an awesome day to see my father with the other veterans," Willis said. He saw tears in his father's eyes that day.

    Willis' father died 17 months after the memorial was dedicated.

    "I often wondered why he lived so long as he did," Willis wrote in a eulogy that he gave at his father's funeral. "I know now it was so he could see the D-Day Memorial."

    Willis, a graduate of William Fleming High School, said he would like to see his $5,000 donation be used as seed money for the field trips.

    He hopes that other Roanoke Valley residents will also contribute funds to help pay for students in Roanoke, Roanoke County and Salem schools to visit the memorial.

    "Maybe we could raise enough money to take every kid in the valley to the memorial," he said.

    Willis said he believes that his father would have been proud of the American troops who toppled Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq during the past month.

    "I kind of wish he could have been here. I think he would have understood what they have gone through and done."

    JOEL TURNER can be reached at 981-3335

   or joel.turner@roanoke.com.

   On the day that his father was buried last November, a young girl asked Gerald Willis a question.

    What is D-Day?

    The question had an emotional significance for Willis because his father, Robert Willis, was a veteran of both World War II and the Korean War. His father participated in the D-Day invasion.

    Willis didn't ask the girl her name or age, but he said she seemed to be old enough to be in middle school.

    He said the question made him realize that many school children today don't know about World War II and the thousands of American soldiers who died in the war.

    "I think it's a shame that we live in an area so close to the D-Day Memorial in Bedford and many children don't know what it means," Willis said.

    "If not for D-Day, we would not be here," he said. "I want every kid in the Roanoke Valley to know what D-Day was."

    Willis' father grew up in Floyd County. He was a construction worker after serving in the Army in two wars.

    When the elder Willis died last November at the age of 85, he left $10,000 to his son.

    Gerald Willis, 44, is donating $5,000 to the Roanoke School Board to help pay for field trips to take sixth- and seventh-graders to see the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford. He hopes that other Roanoke Valley residents will also contribute funds to help pay for students in Roanoke, Roanoke County and Salem schools to visit the memorial. His inspiration was his father, Robert Willis, a veteran of both World War II and the Korean War who participated in the D-Day invasion. He died in November.

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