David Collier Wills, JrSpecialist FourD CO, 1ST BN, 7TH CAVALRY, 1 CAV DIV Army of the United States 12 October 1942 - 10 May 1966 Columbus, Georgia Panel 07E Line 046 |
 
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The database page for David Collier Wills, Jr
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David was my younger and only brother. At the time of his death he was only 22 years old. He was a paratrooper and helicopter machine gunner. He had just returned from a mission extracting troops from a firefight. When they landed back in a safe zone, one of the soldiers they were bringing back had returned with a grenade that did not have the pin in the handle. While trying to replace the pin, the soldier dropped the grenade and five U. S. Army troopers were killed that day including my brother. My brother left behind a wife who was four months pregnant with his only child ... Our mother suffered a nervous breakdown because of her grief and never fully recovered. She passed away at age 83, still grieving over the loss of her youngest son. His body was returned to Georgia in a sealed glass-topped casket. All these years later it is still a sad event for our family. My name is Matt Maddox, my brother David and I had the same mother but different fathers. My mother married David C. Wills, Sr. when I was four years old. David is my half brother but from the day he was born he was my brother, we never considered each other as half-brothers.
From his brother, |
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With all respect
Jim Schueckler, former CW2, US Army
Ken Davis, Commander, United States Navy (Ret)
Memorial first published on 04 Jun 2008
Last updated 08/10/2009