Robert Ernest Willman was born November 2, 1923 at Lawrence, Kansas to Fred G. and Georgia A. (Bryant) Willman. He was inducted into the Army on March 22, 1943 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas at the rank of Private. Willman entered basic training at Camp Haan, California, where he also received desert training at Camp Irwin. He was transferred in May 1944 to Camp McCain, Mississippi, and in August 1944 to Fort George G. Meade, Maryland.
Later in August 1944, Willman was sent overseas, where he served in France, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, and Germany with Company C of the First Division's First Battalion, 26th Infantry. On November 22, 1944, Willman was wounded in the Battle of Hürtgen Forest near Aachen, German, for which he was awarded the Purple Heart. He was hospitalized in England and returned to active duty in May 1945. From August 1945 to February 1946, he was posted with America's occupation forces at Fürth, Germany, where he guarded prisoners of war who had served in Hitler's SS troops. In early February, Willman suffered injuries in a jeep accident and was hospitalized at Nürnberg, Germany. He was returned to the U.S. in May 1946 for hospitalization and recuperation. Willman died on October 29, 1978 at Lawrence, Kansas.
From the guide to the Robert Ernest Willman World War II letters, 1941-1950, (University of Kansas Kenneth Spencer Research Library Kansas Collection)
