Private Willis was a member of Company F, 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. He was taken Prisoner of War while fighting the enemy in South Korea on 25 July 1950. He was reportedly murdered in a tunnel near Sunchon, North Korea, on 20 October 1950. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Willis was awarded the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Combat Infantryman's Badge, the Prisoner of War Medal, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.