Found at the Carnige Foundation.org,
Hero Section. This is
Jim Wills' Grandfather
"WILLIAM GUINETTE WILLS
Tyler, Texas
William G. Wills, 62, farmer, helped to
rescue Thomas Ashcraft 17, farmhand,
from a well cave in, Tyler, Texas,
April 16,1912. Thomas was working in
the well 65 feet deep when a large
quantity of sand caved from the
top, carrying with it a curb made of
boards eight feet long. Some of the
boards broke, and others stuck with
their ends buried in the sand. Thomas
was partly covered by sand and was
unable to free himself. After three
sons of Wills and the owner of the
well had refused to enter the well,
Wills said he would go. His sons and
daughters begged him not to go, but
he had himself lowered in darkness.
He sat astride a stick at the end of
the well rope and was tied to
the rope. Wills grasped the ends of
two boards and as those above slowly
hoisted him, pulled them from the
sand and carried them to the surface.
During a period of an hour and 30
minutes he made seven trips to the
surface with boards, and during that
time no one in the crowd that
gathered would consent to relieve
him. When Wills became too tired to
continue his efforts, another man
agreed to enter the well to remove
the sand. He worked in the well 40
minutes, and then a second man went
down and worked a few minutes. As no
one else would go, Wills went again,
and later, after the first man had
again worked in the well, Wills made
another descent simply to examine
Thomas. A third man completed the
work. When Thomas was hoisted to the
surface, he was found to be uninjured.
He had not been unconscious at any
time while in the well. The following
morning when a slight pressure was
applied, a large quantity of sand
slipped into the well.
8543-837"
***********************************************************
Can You Believe It?
In 1960, the Far East
was in chaos. Jim was
transferred to Yokota
AB, Japan to another
B66 outfit. Faye and
the girls joined him a
few months later.
Marsha started to school
there at age 5, as did
all the Japanese kids.
She was to be in
school for the next 27 years.
Jim's mission was to
probe the radar capabilities
of the Russians and
the Chinese to determine
just what their
intercept ranges and patterns
were. His crew would
fly along these Russian, Korean and Chinese coasts
and when they would launch their fighters,
Jim's crew would turn away.
Often their fighters would
come up and fly on
Jim's wing till they were no
longer a threat to
them. They were very
careful not to get
into Jim's attack zone because
He would bring his guns
to bear and shoot them
down. Neither they nor
Jim wanted to be the one
to fire the first shot
of World War III. One
night he came home
from a long mission and after
debriefing, stopped by
the club and had a few
beers with the crew.
It was typical of him in
those days. When he
got home the family had
supper and went to bed
to stay warm. It was
wintertime in Japan
and his house was very
cold since there was
no insulation in it.
During the night, He
heard a strong commanding;
yet soft voice call
his name. He thought there
was a base alert and
someone was outside
calling his name. At
that moment the room
was filled with the
most brilliant, warm,
comforting, forgiving,
peaceful light he has
ever experienced. The
room warmed immediately.
He sat up in the bed.
The light was brighter
than the sun. It was
so brilliant that he
could not understand
how he could look
directly into it. A
voice from the light
said, "Jim, if you
don't straighten up your
life, I'm going to
take the girls away
from you." Whoa! he
knew he was in the
presence of God! He
pleaded, "Please GOD,
I love them too much.
From this day forward,
I dedicate their lives
and mine to your service
and glorification."
The light withdrew,
leaving Jim wide-awake
and puzzled. The
room returned to the
cold temperature that
it was before. He
didn't think that GOD
visited us anymore.
GOD himself, WOW!
It was the God of the
universe, the GOD WHO
spoke the world into
existence and hung it
on nothing, talking
directly to him. After
that he got to know
Frank and Ester Plazek,
missionaries in the
area and started going
to church again. He
helped build a small
church not far from
the base and just a
block from their
house. they called
it the Church of the
Open Door. The men
would take turns
preaching. Finally, when
they thought they
could afford it, they sent
to Bob Jones
University for a pastor. He and
his family finally
came and moved in next
door to Jim. He and
Jim would ride Jim's
Lambretta scooter up
into the interior of
Japan and visit with
the Japanese farmers
about CHRIST. They
passed out tracts to all
who would take one.
***********************************************************
In 2006 Jim had a
stint put in a main heart
vessel and two days
later while recovering
at home, he decided to
get out of bed and
go to the den. He
started passing out in
the hallway, but at
that moment a strong arm
grabbed his elbow and
another his shoulder
and lifted him to his
feet. Jim turned to
see who was helping
him as he thought he was
the only on in that
end of the house. He
found no one there,
that he see that is.
There was someone
there allright
it had to be his
Guardian Angel watching over
him. Jim shares these
experiences reluctantly
with only those he
trusts because clerics,
scholars and idiots
scoff at such tales.
It happened to Jim and
changed his
life forever.
***********************************************************
Today, Jim is an Air
Force retiree,
awarded 100 percent
disability
by the VA, for his war
time situations
retired business man,
retired buiness
consultant
and served two years
as an AMERICORPS
Volunteer with Leon
Foster assisting
the mentally
challenged adult
community in Tyler,
Texas.
***********************************************************
When he can go, his
coffee-drinking
buddies are Leon
Foster, Ennis (Smith)
Trimble, Larry
Holland, Robert Reece,
Dave Baxter, Johnny
Glenn, and Ron Nowell
***********************************************************
He has five girls,
and one stepson.
20 grandchildren
and four
great-grandchildren.
Marsha, Leading Scientist, seeking cure for asthma
Jan, Minister's wife
Malisa, BSN and
business owner
Nik - Master Plumber
Holli
