Willard, Roy Winfield (1908-1944)

WILLARD, JOHNSON, HOLL, DAVIS, HOUSTON

Posted By: C. Tucker (email)
Date: 12/3/2014 at 16:03:19

Times Republican
Marshalltown, IA [9-8-1948] p. 7

WILLARD'S BODY BORNE HOME FROM ITALY; MILITARY HONORS TO BE PAID AT SERVICE

The body of Pfc. Roy Willard, son of Mr. and Mrs. Ed Willard of Beaman, who was killed May 30, 1944, near Rome, Italy, will arrive in Marshalltown Tuesday morning. Services will be held at the Beaman Methodist church at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday in charge of Rev. J. J. Snyder of Gilman. Burial will be in Vienna cemetery with military honors accorded by the Beaman Legion post. The body will remain at the Estel funeral home until 10 a.m. Wednesday. Roy Willard was born Dec. 25, 1908, in Marshall county. When he was a small boy the family moved to Conrad and later to Beaman where Roy was graduated from high school in 1928. He worked on farms around Conrad for a number of years. He entered the services of his country April 9, 1941, from Grundy Center and was sent to Camp Claiborne, La. After a short time at Fort Dix, N.J., he was sent overseas. He was attached to the 34th division and participated in the North African campaign. Three weeks after his outfit moved into Italy he was critically wounded by enemy small arms fire and died a few hours later in a field hospital. He was buried in a military cemetery at Netluna, Italy. Surviving are his parents, four sisters and a brother, Mrs. Elmer Johnson of Conrad, Mrs. Ernest Holl of Marshalltown, Mrs. Roy Davis of Kansas City, Mo., Mrs. Houston Hall and Cecil Willard of Marshalltown.