Veterans Day is a time to remember and honor those who have fought bravely for the rights of our country as well as those who have died in the process.
At Harding, there is a Bible professor whose family has been directly affected by a veteran of World War II. Dr. Shawn Daggett never had the chance to meet his uncle John Harlan Willis, an honored war veteran.
Yet Daggett still knows the story of his uncle by heart.
At the age of 23, the Columbia, Tenn., native worked as a medic who participated as a Platoon Corpsman in the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945.
Willis disobeyed his orders to await medical release despite having been severely wounded by shrapnel during a battle.
He rushed to the aid of an injured soldier, giving him a blood plasma transfusion even though the soldier was at the extreme front near enemy lines.
While this occurred, a grenade was thrown down into the trench they were occupying. Without hesitation Willis threw the live grenade back at the enemy and resumed his administrations.
Seven more grenades were thrown down at them; seven more times Willis threw them back.
It was the ninth grenade that finally killed him, yet he died with it clasped in his hand and with his wounded comrade alive.
Many other Marines were around them and they witnessed his valor and dedication.
With renewed vigor they charged the enemy despite being outnumbered and won a battle that was thought to have been a lost cause.
“He did all that he could to save the lives of the people around him,” Daggett said.
Selflessly saving the lives of his fellow soldiers made Willis a hero of the country and after his death on Feb. 28, 1945, he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
His wife and 7-month-old son received the award on his behalf.
His little sister, Lucy Daggett, was 9 years old when she last saw her big brother.
“I believe I was his favorite little sister,” Lucy said, as she looked at newspaper clippings of her heroic older brother.
Not only was her elder brother awarded the Medal of Honor, but so was the destroyer escort USS John Willis (DE-1027).
Willis’ actions in World War II are perhaps best remembered through the last line of the dedication on his Medal of Honor: “He gallantly gave his life for his country.”
