This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Tommy Burgdorf (Birddog), FC2
to remember
Avery, Willis Virgil, PhM1c.
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Contact Info
Home Town Vestal
Last Address Boulder City Nevada
Date of Passing May 13, 2015
Location of Interment Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery - Boulder City, Nevada
Willis V. Avery passed away on May 13, 2015 at the age of 93, following his wife Miriam and son Raymond. He is survived by daughter Sandra Sanders of El Dorado Hills, CA and son Bill Avery of Boulder City, NV and grandsons Chris, Jason, and Tim Avery and Greg Sanders and two great granddaughters. Willis grew up on a dairy farm in Vestal, NY. He joined the US Navy at 18 years old prior to the beginning of WWII. He served as a First Class Pharmacist Mate aboard the USS Solace, a hospital ship that was moored alongside Battleship Row during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. He and members of his crew went aboard the burning USS Arizona to give aid to the wounded and help them abandon the sinking ship. He was given a Naval Commendation of Service for his "distinguished devotion and extraordinary courage and disregard for his own safety." Forty-nine years later, Willis hosted the first USS Solace Reunion. Willis played saxophone and clarinet in the Navy band in Auckland, New Zealand where he met his wife, Miriam, of 54 years. Willis enjoyed a 33 year career with IBM Corporation in Endicott, NY, as a computer trouble shooter. A devoted husband and father, Willis had a wonderful sense of humor, loved to laugh and enjoyed telling a good story. His interests included raising beagles, ham radio, and golf. He continued to play clarinet throughout his life. He and Miriam retired to Lady Lake, Florida and then to Boulder City, NV in 1991. Much of his time in later years was spent enjoying the company of friends and playing pool at the Senior Center. Memorial service will be held at the Veterans Cemetery in Boulder City, Nevada on May 29 at 10:40 am. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Senior Center of Boulder City, 813 Arizona Street, Boulder City, NV 89005.
World War II/Asiatic-Pacific Theater
From Month/Year
December / 1941
To Month/Year
September / 1945
Description The plan of the Pacific subseries was determined by the geography, strategy, and the military organization of a theater largely oceanic. Two independent, coordinate commands, one in the Southwest Pacific under General of the Army Douglas MacArthur and the other in the Central, South, and North Pacific (Pacific Ocean Areas) under Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, were created early in the war. Except in the South and Southwest Pacific, each conducted its own operations with its own ground, air, and naval forces in widely separated areas. These operations required at first only a relatively small number of troops whose efforts often yielded strategic gains which cannot be measured by the size of the forces involved. Indeed, the nature of the objectivesùsmall islands, coral atolls, and jungle-bound harbors and airstrips, made the employment of large ground forces impossible and highlighted the importance of air and naval operations. Thus, until 1945, the war in the Pacific progressed by a double series of amphibious operations each of which fitted into a strategic pattern developed in Washington.
