FORT KNOX, Ky. — A World War II soldier from Grand Rapids will return home more than 80 years after giving the ultimate sacrifice.
Pvt. 1st Class Willard H. Brinks will be laid to rest at Garfield Park Cemetery on May 19, according to the U.S. Army Human Resources Command Public Affairs Office.
We’re told services will be provided by Zaagman Memorial Chapel.
Brinks was deployed to Papua New Guinea with Company K, 3rd Battalion, 126th Infantry Regiment, 32nd Infantry Division to stop a Japanese attack on Port Moresby, military officials say. His unit tried to surround a Japanese defense formation when Brinks was killed near the Soputa-Sanananda Track on Nov. 22, 1942. He was 24.
Brinks’s remains were identified and accounted for years later by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) in July 2022, according to officials.
Visit the DPAA’s website for more information on their efforts to identify U.S. soldiers who went missing or killed in action.
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