![]() |
Remember...William Arnett Wills
|
William Arnett Wills was born April 15, 1914, in Arnett, Raleigh County, West Virginia. His parents were William Harrison Wills and Elsie M. Sarrett Wills. The oldest in a family of five, his siblings included a sister Carrie and three brothers: Edward, Joe, and Dallas. He went by his middle name, derived from the town in which the family made their home and which distinguished him from his father.
While Raleigh County's main occupation was coal mining, Arnett's father worked instead at a lumber mill and various other jobs. To put it mildly, life was difficult for the Wills family. Arnett left school after the fifth grade. On June 19, 1933, he married Jocie Nina Combs, who also grew up in Arnett. Nina was only 16 when they were married. They would go on to have three children: William Arnett Jr., Goldie Jane, and Robert Dale.
Prior to joining the military, Arnett Wills's life was marked by instability. In 1933, he had his first run-in with the law but was bailed out of jail by his great-grandfather. It appears that his legal complications were precipitated by his need to care for his family. Two years later, his mother Elsie died of pneumonia and tuberculosis. His father abandoned the family. Carrie, like Arnett, was apparently independent, but the three young brothers were entrusted to the care of the maternal grandfather. Between 1937 and 1940, Arnett committed additional crimes and spent some time in the Petersburg Federal Reformatory in Bland, Virginia. By October 1940, he was again with his family and soon gained employment with the Colcord Coal Company.
On March 29, 1943, he enlisted in the U.S. Army at Newport, Kentucky. Trained at various camps around the eastern U.S., he joined Company I, 3rd Battalion, 71st Infantry Regiment, 44th Infantry Division. The 44th Division left Boston for Cherbourg, France, on September 5, 1944. It relieved the 79th Division. Company I's first experience with combat came on November 13 about 40 miles from the French-German border. They continued advancing toward Germany amidst fierce fighting, and on December 12, Arnett succumbed to shrapnel wounds.
Nina was informed of his death on December 28, 1944. In February 1946, she was remarried to Ash K. Cook. At the request of Arnett's father, his remains were returned to the States in 1949 and buried in the Arnett Cemetery. In 2009, Private William Arnett Wills was reinterred in the West Virginia National Cemetery at Pruntytown. Arnett was the recipient of the Purple Heart.
For a more detailed account of the life and military service of William Arnett Wills, see the full biography, written by Mitchel Blake, Lilly Henderson, and Avalee Reckart of University High School, https://wvhumanities.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Wills-William-Arnett-USA.pdf.
West Virginia Archives and History welcomes any additional information that can be provided about these veterans, including photographs, family names, letters and other relevant personal history.