Robert Kenneth "Bobby" Willis, Jr., KIA Pearl Harbor; St. Landry Par., LA
Submitter: Randy Willis
Date: July 2001
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Robert Kenneth "Bobby" Willis, Jr., KIA Pearl Harbor

by Randy Willis
www.randywillis.org
randy@randywillis.org

My 1st cousin once-removed, Robert Kenneth "Bobby" Willis, Jr., joined the
Navy in August of 1939, after graduating from Natchitoches High School.  He
served for 16-months on the USS Arizona, which arrived at Pearl Harbor on
Saturday, December 6, 1941 and was sunk the next morning by the Japanese.
He enlisted in the Navy, in Rapides Parish, Louisiana and was the first
casualty of that Parish in World War II.  The American Legion Post in
Pineville, Louisiana was named the Robert K. Willis Jr. Post, in honor of
his service and duty to his country.  He is entombed in the USS Arizona,
at
the bottom of Pearl Harbor.

On March 25, 1961,  Elvis Presley gave a benefit performance in Hawaii,
raising $64,696 or over 10% of the total cost to build the Arizona
Memorial.
Elvis had returned from duty in the Army the year before.  Both Col. Tom
Parker and Scotty Moore had served in the military in Hawaii.  Scotty
described the concert as having a "homecoming feel to it".  The memorial
was
dedicated on Memorial Day 1962.