Joseph Perry Willis was born at Glenpool, Tulsa County, Oklahoma on May 21, 1920. He was one of three children of Charles 'Chas' Willis (20 Sep 1895 – Mar 1969), who was born at Wauhillau, Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory (which was later Oklahoma); and Anna (Hatton) Willis (10 Nov 1893 – May 1984), who was born in Arkansas. His parents married at Cherokee County, Oklahoma on April 8, 1916. His two siblings were Charles Andrew 'Red' Willis Jr (26 Aug 1917 – 17 Sep 1975) and Edwin Leigh 'Spotts' Willis (27 Nov 1922 – 24 Jan 2004), who were both born in Oklahoma. In 1940 the family lived on a farm on Indian School Road in Maricopa County, Arizona, and his father was a truck driver for a feed and fuel company.

He completed three years of high school and worked as a box maker for a produce company. He registered for the draft at Glendale, Maricopa County, Arizona on July 1, 1941; and was single, without dependents, when he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps on December 19, 1941. He was 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighed 150 pounds, and had hazel eyes and blonde hair. He married after enlisting.

He completed Army Air Forces pilot training in Class 43-G, and received his wings and commission on July 28, 1943. He went on to a period of Transition training in the B-24 'Liberator' heavy bomber in order to qualify as pilot in command for that aircraft type. He was then assigned as a pilot in the 838th Bomb Squadron of the 487th Bomb Group. His crew completed B-24 crew training with the 487th Bomb Group at Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico, and deployed with the Group to England in March 1944. They flew B-24H 42-52577 from Alamogordo, New Mexico to Lavenham, England via the southern Atlantic ferry route—a journey of about 10,000 miles—and arrived at Lavenham by mid-April 1944. The 487th Bomb Group was based at Army Air Forces Station 137 near Lavenham, Suffolk, England, and was part of the 8th U.S. Army Air Force in Europe. The base control tower was located about two miles north of Lavenham at 52.1330°N, 0.7693°E.

On May 29, 1944 the 487th Bomb Group dispatched two Squadrons of B-24s to bomb the oil refinery at Politz, Germany (which is now Police, Poland). After leaving the target, the formation was attacked by German fighters in the vicinity of the rally point. Lt Willis and eight of his crewmates went missing in action when their aircraft, B-24H 42-52577, was shot down by German Me 410 fighters and exploded over the Baltic Sea within sight of Bornholm Island. Their bodies were never found.

The aircraft was seen going down due north of the target at about 54°02'N, 14°42'E, one to two miles from the coast. Lt Willis assumed a northwesterly course towards Sweden. Witnesses saw fuel leaking from the bomb bay, which appeared to stop when an engine was feathered. The aircraft exploded, and witnesses saw it crash in the Baltic Sea at 1240 hours at 54°47'N, 14°00'E, about 20 miles northeast of Rugen Island, Germany. The navigator, Lt Edgar Allan Grabhorn, was blown clear in the explosion and survived. He was rescued later that day at 1815 hours by the German fishing vessel Oskar Friedrich at 54°39'N, 14°36'E, where he was found floating in a life raft. He became a prisoner of war.

Lt Willis is memorialized on the Wall of the Missing at Cambridge American Cemetery in England.

B-24H 42-52577 crew:
• Willis, Joseph P – 2/Lt – Pilot – MIA
• Wasson, Robert L – 2/Lt – Copilot – MIA
• Grabhorn, Edgar A – 2/Lt – Navigator – POW
• Slusarczyk, Stanley A – 2/Lt – Bombardier – MIA
• Estright, Alfred T – Sgt – Engineer – MIA
• Robinson Jr, Richard S – S/Sgt – Radio Operator – MIA
• Rodgers, Gilbert E – Sgt – Ball Turret – MIA
• Pierson, Robert E – Sgt – Nose Turret – MIA
• Jones, William E – Sgt – Top Turret – MIA
• Donnelly, Robert J – Sgt – Tail Turret – MIA

Source of information: Paul M. Webber, www.findagrave.com, www.abmc.gov