Memorial

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Sgt William L. Willis graduated from Summerville High School in 1927 and was listed in the yearbook as the senior class secretary-treasurer, pictured as a basketball player and named as a character in the senior class play.

Following graduation he worked for the local West Side Lumber mill until it closed during the Depression from 1930-35. When the mill reopened, "Willy," as he was known locally, returned to work there.

He enlisted in the Presidio of Monterey, California on 5 March 1942.

William Willis (known locally as "Billy" in school and "Willy" after he graduated) worked briefly at the West Side Lumber Mill in Tuolumne until it closed in 1930 for five years due to the Depression. He returned to work there in 1935, probably until he enlisted.

The second picture was taken in high school in 1927.

He is remembered in his local town of Tuolumne with photos in the local museum, in the town's war memorial building and with a lighted cross on the hill above the town erected in memory of the local men who died in WWII.