Will Harden Willmon's Obituary
Will Harden Willmon, 96 of Seminole passed away on Thursday August 17, 2017. He was born in Reform, Alabama. Preceded in death by his wife, Gail H.; parents, W.M. and Ida Belle Willmon; sister, Mae Casey; brother, Howard Willmon; sister, Injia Fay Reid. Survivors include his son, Will R. Willmon of Cottondale, AL; granddaughters, Tracy Fernandez (Michael) of Vail, CO and Ashley Hayduk of Naples, FL and great grandson, Tyler Hayduk also of Naples, FL; sister, Nell Mintz and a niece, Cathy Mintz; brother, Henry Ford Willmon; step daughter, Gail M. “Abi” Rucker (Leslie) of Brinklow, MD and step granddaughters, Susan T. Rucker of Jacksonville, FL, Katharine B. Sears (Daniel) of Tampa, FL and a great grandson, Joseph C. Sears also of Tampa; step son Timothy C. Parker (Shaughn Dowd) of Vienna, VA. Mr. Willmon had an extensive military career. He was with the 4th Marines, 24th Marine Regiment, 2nd Battalion. on June 15, 1941, he was torpedoed in the North Atlantic in route to England. 1941-1942 went through blitz of London at the American Embassy. In November 1941, he was shot down in route from London to Londerary North Ireland as a Diplomatic Carrier for the American Embassy. In 1942, he trained with British Commandos and then went with them to Casablanca as a Naval Gun Fire Spotter in early 1943. In 1944, the 4th Marine Division took Roi and Namur, Kwajalein Islands. In June, they took Saipan and Tinian, Marshall Islands. Then, in February 1945, took Iwo Jima in the Volcano Islands. In March 1945 was the Floating Reserve to the Okinawa operation all the the 4th Marine Division and then finally in 1950 the Inchon Landing with the 1st Marine Division. Serving in the Marine Corps from Private to Captain, he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with Bronze V, Presidential Unit Citation with 2 Bronze Stars, Navy Unit Commendation with 1 Bronze Star, Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal with 1 Bronze Star, China Service Medal, American Defense Medal with Clasp Base, European-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with 1 Bronze Star, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with 4 Bronze Stars, American Campaign Medal, National Defense Medal, World War II Victory Medal, Korean Service Medal with 1 Bronze Star and the Korean War Medal. His Civilian work history included working at MELPAR and IBM for 17 years where he worked on GPS Towers. He helped develop the Short Bar Long Bar Readers for the US Post Office distribution of mail. He was also a team member on each of the Apollo Space flights. He will be buried with military honors by the United States Marine Corps carried to his final resting place on a horse drawn caisson.
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