GRAND HAVEN, Mich. — Congresswoman Hillary Scholten presented a Purple Heart Friday to the daughter of a World War I veteran, on behalf of her late father, Corporal George Wills.
Wills was shot before the war ended in 1918.
His daughter, Verla Thomas, says that experience changed her dad’s life.
Wills came back home to West Michigan and raised seven children.
“It was awesome. I never imagined, when I turned around and saw everybody that came, I was just amazed. I mean, I expected my family, but cousins and retired Air Force and military, it was just amazing,” Thomas said.
Thomas says it wouldn’t have been possible to receive the Purple Heart Friday without the work of Dr. Chris Petras.
Dr. Petras has worked to get more than a dozen Purple Heart medals for World War I veterans.
“It’s amazing to be a part of that. I can always say it’s a blessing. It’s incredible. I never would have thought in a million years that I would be at this point. Today [Saturday] was the 20th Purple Heart medal,” Dr. Petras, a military historian, said.
Thomas reached out to him last January to see if she could help with his WWI documentary.
She sent him documents about her father, who he said is eligible for a Purple Heart.
Dr. Petras then reached out to Congresswoman Hillary Scholten’s team, which contacted the Army Awards and Decoration Branch.
“These families, military families sacrifice so much for all of us. Their sacrifices for each and every one of us, and so to be able to repay just a small portion of the gratitude that we feel for their sacrifice is so worth it,” Congresswoman Scholten said.
Click here if you have a loved one who you believe is deserving of a medal.
