Robert LeRoy Wills was born December 28, 1893 in Scales Mount, Illinois. Early in his life, his family moved to Butte, Nebraska, which he called home for the rest of his life. His family included parents W.T. Wills and Mary E. Wills and siblings Alice E., Lyman T., William, and Mary Wills. Working as a schoolteacher in Butte, he registered for the draft on June 5, 1917 at the age of 23.

            From his registration card, we know Wills was a Caucasian of medium height and build with light blue eyes and red hair. He never married. He and three others from Boyd County left for Camp Funston on September 6, 1917. He was of Company D, 355th infantry, 89th division. 

 

                                                      Butte Gazette:  Sep. 12, 1918

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                                                       From Robert Wills.

    Somewhere in France, Aug. 15, 1918

    Dear Dad:  Well I haven't had much of a chance to write home or any other place for some time.  Have been up to the front lately and have seen quite a little excitement.  It is rather a nerve tester at first, but one soon accustoms himself to it, and it soon gets just about the same as going to work each day.  Got back without so much as a scratch.  Heinie Tienken was hurt with a shrapnel shell.

    I saw Herman Anderson this morning.  Haven't seen either Ben or Archie Hale for quite a long time, so I don't know where they are.  How is the garden coming?  Have ripe tomatoes frequently and they sure do hit the spot.

    Got a letter from Alice, two from Mary, and one from Ma while in the trenches.  Had to read them under rather trying circumstances, but was sure glad to get them.

    How does Bill Krikac like the army by this time?  I'll bet he finds it a lot different.

    There is not much to write about for every thing that might prove of interest would be stricken out by the censor.

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                                                                        Your son,

                                                                                     Robert

 

Butte Gazette: December 19, 1918

 

Sergeant Robert L. Wills wrote a letter to a friend in Butte only a few days before he met death on the battlefield, which is of peculiar interest, now that the writer is no more.

 

            Sergeant Wills was reticent about himself and his title, which was sergeant; instead of corporal, as heretofore stated:

 

                        Somewhere in France, Oct. 31,

 

            Dear Friend:

                        Received you letter some time ago, and this is about the first opportunity I have had to answer.

            Say, do you remember when we were in botany class, and Prof. Alcock brought in some little blue flowers with ragged stems and leaves and told us they were the only ones of the kind he had seen in the states, but they were plentiful in France? Well, there were sure enough of them over here, too.  They are just all over this country, and every time I see some of them they remind me of the Prof. and some of the times we used to have in school.

            Tonight is Halloween, and I don't know what to do, unless I go over and tear a German machine gun to pieces and scatter them around.

            How goes school, anyway?  Does it beat teaching in Anoka?

            It is beginning to feel a little like fall around here now.  Is rather chilly in the morning, and the days are getting so short.  Gee, it gets dark now at 5:15 in the afternoon.

            Well, Grace, since going "over the top," we have moved upon another front, and so am still able to hear the roar of guns and see that the war is not over yet.  Have been up in the front lines here, but am back a little ways now, and so besides being shelled and seeing a few aeroplane battles, and balloons brot(sic) down, etc., there has not been much excitement so far.  However some of it has proved interesting enough.

            I saw Henry Sibbel a few days ago.  Looks good to see an old Butte boy once in a while.

            Well, Grace, I guess I will have to close for this time, as I have some work to do.

 

                                                                                                As ever,

                                                                                                                        Robert.

 

 

 

Sources: National Archives; Butte Gazette

 

                                    Butte Gazette, September 22, 1921

 

 

                                   Sgt. Robert Leroy Wills Now Rests in Homeland

 

One of Boyd County’s First Three.  Large Crowd Attend Funeral Sunday

 

            A little over four years from the time Robert L. Wills went to join the colors in defense of his country in the great World War, his body was returned to find a last resting place, and fitting honors from the host of friends who knew and honored him in life.

            The body arrived at Anoka Saturday noon, and was immediately taken in charge by the Robert L. Wills, American Legion, and taken to the home of his father, W.T. Wills, where military guard was maintained until the funeral.

            The funeral was held Sunday afternoon.  It was realized that no church or hall would hold the audience, and so a platform and seats were arranged on the court house lawn, and here assembled the great audience to pay their last respects.

            At the hour appointed the Legion formed in procession at the G.A.R. hall, and led by the Bristow band marched to the house and received the remains which were drawn to the place of assembly on a caisson, by six black horses, each led by helmetted legionaire, the band in the lead, followed by the firing squad, and members of the Legion, and the flower girls after which came the procession of relatives and friends.

            The services  were in charge of Rev. J. C. Dillon, of Kearney, who was pastor of the M.E. Church of  Butte for four years, and knew Robert Wills intimately as a school boy.  He was assisted by Chaplain Roberts, of Dallas, an overseas veteran, who appeared in his uniform with the Legion.  Music was furnished by the union choir, special number being the beautiful rendition of "One Sweetly Solemn Thought." Rev. Dillon spoke in substance as follows:

                        Subject: - "Life's Battle."

            Text: II Tim. 4:7 - "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith."

            The same Christian principals that had to be defended by the Apostle Paul and his little company of followers in the 1st century led our country to enter the "World War" and make he great sacrifice of our sons.

            As to present conditions: "We find ourselves, today, mixed and mingled in the tragic aftermath of a World War; Re-committing our beloved dead to Mother Earth in their own native land, beside the sleeping loved ones.  Our hearts are filled with sorrow, but this sorrow is tempered  with all the consolation of the Gospel of Christ, in which our brother trusted.  For he was a Christian.  He counted not his life dear to himself but was numbered with those who sacrificed their lives to lift this world with its teeming millions,, to where it might recognize the Fatherhood of God, the Savior-hood of Christ, and the Brotherhood of man.

A Good Samaritan

            Our soldiers and sailors, Y. M. C. A., Red Cross, etc., animated by lofty ideals of Justice and holy ideas of Christian Principles crossed the high seas, to minister to the needs of weak and wounded brothers who had fallen among thieves.

Cost to Make the World a Safe Place

            In order to make this world a safer place, through which men and nations must pass, it has cost much.

            Our beloved country has already paid its share and more.  Our stat contributed its quota, and our county and town gave its best--Will, Clute, Stockwell and others.  this young man before us, turning aside from golden opportunities and a chosen profession, the law, gladly responded to his country's call, went forth, and paid the last full measure of devotion by the supreme sacrifice of his life.

Our Duty in the Future

            And now it remains for those of us who loved him, and all, to meet in like devotion the needs of today: to meet these needs and do our part in the same spirit manifested by the one we honor and mourn today.  It will be easier for us if we receive the message he left us in Faith, Works and Love

Faith and Hope our Anchor

            We believe in God and feel that Right will prevail.  We should combine Faith and Hope and move on in to the future with confidence.

Great Question Before  Us

            This word is a great battlefield.  Two armies are struggling for supremacy: The Right and the Wrong; the Good and the Bad; Sin and Righteousness.

            You and I are in the battle, either to fight the "good fight," or to lose the battle.  May every on of you enlist under the blood-stained banner of our Lord and help bring this world to him.

Hope Not Yet Realized

            We had hoped, at the close of the World War, many, if not all nations would be united in the safest and highest bonds of Christian Principles of Peace, but it is not yet so.  Selfish men, with narrow visions seem to have hindered the progress of such a move and we find ourselves yet unanchored as a nation in this move.

            We should remember that we are now making history.  Shall we leave a record to our children and our children's children that all of these beloved sons, who gave their lives for our Christian Principles, died in Vail ?  God forbid! But may we be found, not wanting, when the last trump shall sound and they shall come form the north and the south, from the east and the west, and the sea shall give up its dead and the cemeteries of earth shall give up their dead and we shall all be re-united around God's throne, forever and ever."

            Following Rev. Dillon's sermon, Chaplain Roberts made a short address, the substance of his remarks being as follows:

            An occasion such as this seems to me as a challenge to each of us to look at ourselves in the glass.  Not our outward selves--there is too much attention paid to that as it is--but our inner selves, our hearts, our lives.  For here we are face to face with that highest type of life if which our Lord spake when He declared, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." Sergeant Will fulfilled that supreme law of love --he laid down his life for you and me, for all of us here in America.  He did not stop to count the price, to figure out if he was winning or losing.  He did not hesitate when he thought of what he might have to pay for his service, loss of home, of limb, or of life itself.  He heard the call of duty and he obeyed it.  He saw the Flag,  his Flag and ours, in danger and he hastened to defend it.  And in his devotion to the Flag and to the Great Cause for which it stood, he made the supreme sacrifice.

            And today we are gathered here to pay our tribute to his splendid life, and to reverently lay his remains in the soil of the homeland which he loved.

            This service in which we are gathered here to take part is either going to be a huge farce and mockery, or it is going to be one of the great milestones in the life of this community.  It is either going to be a curse, or it is going to be a blessing. It is either going to make Butte a worse place in which to live, or it is going to make it a better place. The two alternatives are open to us today.  One or the other is going to result.  There is no middle ground.  We stand at the cross roads, for better or for worse.  And which is it going to be ?(sic)

            The only worth while tribute we can pay to a life is by a life.  Any one can sing songs, any one can utter an oration or say nice things.  Any one can bring boquets for the coffin, or place a flag above the grave.  That is nothing.  It takes but a moment and there is no real effort in it.  I believe that if sergeant Wills were here today for a moment and saw us striving to express our honor for him for his supreme devotion, he would not ask us for flowers, or for a band, or for a big and impressive service. If he could be here for just a moment I believe he would utter just two words, those famous words which were uttered by thousands of dying lips on the battlefields of France, "Carry On."  That is what he would want us to do.  Carry on.  Keep us the struggle for which he laid down his life.  Keep America safe, keep her pure, keep her strong.  Keep her free from those foes, within as well as without, who would make her their slaves.  See that our boys and girls are trained to be true Americans, pure in heart, strong in body, steadfast in their devotion to the Flag, loving God and Country more than all else in the world, even life itself,

            Our great curse in America today is that we are not "carrying on." We have forgotten the sufferings and death of men who went forth to defend the Nation.  IT all seems to us like a dream, and so long as it has cost us nothing in wealth or health or loved ones, we are content to let it remain to us as a dream.  The Nation needs our help today more than ever before, in these days of reconstruction.  But we are settling back into the old life, content to let the Country take care of herself.  As we marched up here this afternoon we passed some men on Main street who are typical of the times, men who were too lazy and indolent to stand on their feet and remove their hats when the Flag of their Country passed by.  Men who were so lacking in a sense of gratitude, of Patriotic reverence, of human gratitude,-- yes and of common decency,-- that they were content to sit indolently on curb stones and ??? when the flag-draped casket of a man who died to save them passed by.  Oh, the shame of it!

            They are but a type,-- and thank God, in the great minority, in their particular stripe, --of most of the rest of us.  We are buried in our business and in our pleasure, and in our other interests of life.  And yet the Nation is calling us, calling us to stand up and pay our honor to those who have given their all for us.  And we must pay that honor to those who have given their all for us.  And we must pay that honor by helping forward the principles for which they died.  It is for each of us, as a National duty, to examine ourselves, and see what best we are fitted for in the raising of our National life.  You know when a man entered the Army an effort was made to put him to some task for which he was specially fitted.  Give him some job to which he was accustomed that he might serve his Country the better.  And that is our work today.  To find out how best we can serve the Nation.  Have we an influence with boys?  Then get to work and build up our boys into worthy sons of patriots before them.  Have we an interest in community morality?  Then get to work and help clean up the community.  Are we interested in good government?  Then go out into politics, and take our stand for all that is best and highest in public life.  Look in the glass and examine ourselves, find out in what way we can best serve the Nation, and then go forth and serve.

            Are we gong to allow this impressive service which we are holding here today to stand forth in the future as a huge mockery ?  Shall we let it go down in the history of Butte as a sham and an empty tribute to one of our sons who has fallen ?  God forbid that we should so dishonor him.  It were better that we should have silently carried his body to the hill yonder and laid it away quietly with no word or sign of tribute.

            But we have expressed out tribute with our words and with our presence here.  Now we are morally bound to go forth and make that tribute real; to show forth by our lives that our words and our acts were not a lie.  It is for us now to go forth into life and "carry on," giving ourselves, even as Sergeant Wills gave himself, to the service of God and of Country, without thought of self, without waiting to count the cost.  The presence of his body here is a challenge to us.  Please God we may accept the challenge, and give ourselves to the best interests of community and Nation, even as he gave his life.

            With the closing song by the choir, "Beautiful Isle of Somewhere," the procession again formed and marched to the cemetery, where with the military salute by the firing squad and sounding of taps by the bugles, the last touching farewell was given to Sergeant Robert L. Wills, citizen, soldier and hero.

            The splendid music of the Bristow band added much to the beauty of the services, and a wealth of floral tribute testified to the esteem of many friends.

            Relatives from out of town who attended the funeral were: Ernest E Wills and family, of Dallas; T.B. and William Wills, of Carroll, Iowa; Mrs. Emma Nelson, of Missouri Valley, Iowa; and Mrs. Mary J. Eddy, of Cuba City Wisconsin.

Obituary

            Sergeant Robert LeRoy Wills was born in Butte, Nebraska, December 29th, 1893. He died in the service of his country, in France in the battle of the Argonne Forest, November 8, 1918.

            Sergeant Wills received his early education in the public schools at Butte, completing the twelfth grade at the age of seventeen.  During his attendance at the public school, he never missed a day and was never tardy.  After completing his public school education he attended the University three years, preparatory to entering the law business.  He taught school in Nebraska and South Dakota three years.

            He entered the service of his country, September 5th, 1917, volunteering to go with the first contingent of three from Boyd county, and secured his military training at Camp Funston, going overseas in June, 1918.  He took part on the battle of St. Mihiel, and in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.  He rose from the rank of Private to Sergeant, and was killed while leading his platoon back from the front, a fragment of a German shell striking him in the back of the head.  He was immediately taken to a field hospital but lived only eight hours. He was a brave and faithful soldier and a good citizen. He was clean morally, perfect physically and able mentally.  He became a member of the M. E. church early in life and was an active and consistent member to the day of his death.

            He leaves surviving him, his father W. T. Wills, two brothers, Lyman T. and William P. and two sisters, Alice M. Thatcher and Mary E. Wills. His mother died June 5th, 1920, and one sister, Esther A., died in infancy. Beside his immediate family he leaves many other relatives and a host of friends.

            The following letter gives the particulars of the death of Sergeant Wills, by one who was with him when he was killed:

(Extract from a letter received from Sgt. C. B. Bull, Elkhorn, Nebr. ex. Co. D, 355th Inf.)

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *         

            We were all in the same company (Co. D, 355th Inf. 89th Div.)

            Wills joined the army, and same company he was with when killed, on September 5th, 1917 and was hit on either the 7th, 8th, or 9th of Nov. 1918. We lost track of date up there but it as just a few days before the armistice.  We had driven the enemy over the Meuse River and they were holding the north and east bank and we the west and south.  Two platoons of our company were in Cesse, which is a small town just across the river form Stenay and north 1 kilo ( held by the enemy then) doing outpost and patrol duty.  The two other platoons were about 1/2 kilometer south west of Cesse in heavy woods, more or less a reserve.  Wills was platoon sergeant of one of these platoons and I of the other.  On the day that he got hit, we received word that chow or food was being brought up to a point on the Beauclair-Laneuville road about 1 1/2 kilometers behind us.  That was the first food except such as we could find in the field (cabbage, turnips, etc., raw) that we had had since Nov. 1sst. Our company commander, Lt. Richardson, ordered our platoons to go back to it and eat  half of it and bring the other half back for the tow platoons on the outpost.  Wills happened to be near the Company P. C. and was ordered to take charge of the outfit on the way back and return.  I joined him at about that time and we decided we had better try to get to the head of the column of men who had heard what was going to happen and being hungry had already started.  Our duty was to see that none got lost and they didn't bunch up too much, because the enemy shelled frequently and especially if groups showed themselves.  When we were about half way back to the point were we expected to find our chow the enemy threw over five or six shells, having evidently seen us.  They all fell close but one made a direct hit in our column and I believe burst between Wills and myself, although we were not over 8 or 10 paces apart.  It killed one man outright and wounded four besides Wills, whose skull had been penetrated by a fragment of it.  Wills was still apparently conscious and insisted that he was all right.  A 1st Lt. of a 90th Div. machine gun outfit was near and took charge of the wounded and Wills was rushed to a first aid station on the road nearby but died as soon as he reached it.  I understand, altho(sic) of course I was not with him then.

Yours truly,

C. B. Bull.