US Army William Henry Jolly was born in Pensacola, Florida on February 13, 1909, the son of James Nicholas Jolly (1882-1969) and Genevieve Ann McCullough Clark (1889-1957). His father was born during the Civil War in Louisiana and his mother was a native of Pensacola. His parents were married on July 23, 1908, in Pensacola as they prepared to move into 210 DeVilliers Street. His father would support his family working for the City of Pensacola as a plumbing inspector in 1920 and the street superintendent in 1930.
On the other hand, their oldest son William Henry worked labor type jobs for most of his young life to include a plumbers apprentice in 1927 and a laborer for the Asphalt Works in 1930. In 1940, he was working for the Pat Gonzalez Plumbing Company at Alcaniz & Romana Street.
William would enlist in the US Army on June 14, 1941, and was sent to Camp Blanding, Florida for processing and orientation. He was ordered to the 81st Infantry Division, which had been reactivated in June 1942 at Camp Rucker, Alabama. The division was comprised for the most part by drafted soldiers who would receive their training at Camp Rucker and Camp McLellan in Alabama, Ft. Francis E. Warren in Wyoming and San Euis Abispo, CA. When all was completed, they set sail for Hawaii in June 1944. There, they trained in amphibious landings and jungle warfare. The Division would then embark for Guadalcanal in August 1944, which was serving as a staging area for offensive operations.
On September 15, 1944, the 1st Marine Division landed on Peleliu, a battle that would cost them 8,800 Americans killed, wounded, or missing. In contrast, less than 300 of the 13,000 Japanese would survive. But the question was why Peleliu was invaded at all since three days before the landing it was determined to be totally unnecessary and served no purpose in furthering the war effort. But alas, a soldier's life is to fight where they're told to fight!
Contrary to the 1st Marine Division, the Army's 81st Division was facing combat for the very first time. Because of this they were assigned the duty of seizing Angaur, a small island seven miles off of Peleliu's southern tip. Two days after the Marines stormed ashore on Peleliu, the 321st and 322nd Regiments of the 81st hit the shores of Anguar. The island was secured by September 20th and the 322 Regiment remained ashore to mop up the remnants of the enemy forces. As for Peleliu, the southern part of the island was flat and quickly overrun. There, the 7th Marines Regiment captured the enemy airfield and began fortifying the area. The 1st Regiment was assigned the northern part of the island while the 5th Regiment would land in the center thus dividing the island into three parts. The 81st would be held in reserve for whatever they were needed to do. By October 10th, the worst of the battle was over however infiltrators, snipers, and suicides attacks by solitary and small groups of soldiers began to take their toll on the invaders. One of the last strongholds was the "Umurbrogol Pocket" that became a last ditch stand for the dwindling Japanese. On October 12th, the 321st Regiment of the 81st Division began relieving the 5th Marines on Baldy Ridge and the cliffs of the China Wall where the 5th had lost 42% of their regiment. Luckily for them, the 322nd Regiment of the 81st pulled garrison duty on Ngarmoked Island. Then on October 30th, after five weeks of horrific fighting the 81st Division officially relieved the entire 1st Marine Division and took over operations.
Five days later, Private William Henry Jolly and his regiment (believed to be the 321st) were fighting in the Umurbrogol Pocket when he was severely wounded on November 4th. His parents were notified of his condition by the War Department on November 23 and promised to keep them informed. On December 16th, they kept their promise by notifying them that their son had died of his wounds on November 10th. His remains were buried in the island's ever-growing cemetery where he joined the other heroes of the battle.
From October 30 until November 27th, 110 soldiers from the 81st Division would pay with their lives as they "mopped up" the remnants of the Japanese forces. All three of their regiments combined would lose a total of 2,433 casualties representing 370 killed, 2,041 wounded, and 22 missing. Japan's commanding officer fought to the bitter end and sent his last message to his superiors, "All is over on Peleliu," just before he committed suicide. The outcome of the battle was never in doubt as the Americans unleashed a devastating firepower on the Japanese with an estimated ratio of 1,600 rounds of ammunition for every Japanese soldier killed.
After the war, the family requested that William's remains be returned to the United States to his home in Pensacola. He was laid to rest with full military honors in October 1948 in the Holy Cross Cemetery where he rests today surrounded by his loving family.
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