GRAND HAVEN, Mich. — At a table in the genealogy room of the Loutit District Library, 93-year-old Verla Thomas sits with Dr. Chris Petras, thumbing through documents and sharing stories about Verla's father George Hunter Wills, whose friends called him Hunter.
"My dad was really special to me," Verla said.
"He was a farm boy to start. They had a farm on Leonard Road and he took care of the parents until he went to the National Guard and went overseas."
Hunter served in World War I, but he never talked about his military service unless somebody asked. As it turned out, a curious Verla had quite a few questions to ask him about a box of stuff that artifacts that Hunter saved from the war, including a bullet.
"He told me about Company F being called to go to World War I when he was already 24, and how they joined the Red Arrow Division from Muskegon," she said.
"He told me the different battles that he was in. And then I said 'Well, where did you get the bullet?' And we laughed, because I was expecting him to tell me in the Battle of Argonne, but he said 'I got it in my leg.'"
On November 10, 1918, one day before the Armistice that ended the war, Hunter was wounded.
"They put him in a hospital outside Paris in one of Louis XIV's summer homes. He had a lot of mansions and they turned it into a hospital," said Verla. She saved a photo showing the exterior of the home that Hunter had sent back home. He circled the room he had stayed in.
Verla kept all the documentation from her father's service. In January of 2023, she heard about a group of World War I veterans posthumously being awarded with the Purple Heart thanks to the research Chris had done. So, she gave him a call and they met up at the library.
"I showed him what I had and he seemed amazed that I had so much material. Why throw it away? It's history, you know?" Verla said.
Chris says it's rare for him to be able to meet the child of a World War I veteran and it's even more uncommon for him to have access to as many documents as the ones Verla had kept over the years.
"I was very pleased and surprised at the same time that she had kept his original discharge documents, and enlistment records, and everything that's so important, at least to make the process facilitate quicker," he said.
"I made copies of that and did some more research and then reached out to Congresswoman Scholten's office and her staff regarding some facilitation help with this. They were wonderful."
After all was said and done, Chris found out that Hunter was eligible for the Purple Heart as well as the Victory Medal, four bronze clasps and a victory button. This makes the 20th Purple Heart that Chris has been able to help secure for the families of the heroes who rightfully earned the honor.
"It's truly an honor. I consider it a blessing," he said.
There will be a Purple Heart ceremony for Hunter on Friday, January 5 at 11 a.m. at the Loutit District Library in Grand Haven. It is open to the public.
For now, Chris is encouraging people to dig into their own family history.
"Don't be afraid to look into it and keep the honor of your loved one's name going as former service member," he said.
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