MILLS, REV (VETERAN WWII), JAMES WALTER - White County, Arkansas | JAMES WALTER MILLS, REV (VETERAN WWII) - Arkansas Gravestone Photos

James Walter MILLS, REV (VETERAN WWII)

White County Memorial Gardens Cemetery
White County,
Arkansas

US Army Air Corps
World War II
December 7, 1910 - March 15, 1994

James W Mills was born December 7, 1910 in Kenefic, Oklahoma, grandson of George P. Mills (1854-1929). He began preaching when he was sixteen all around the Durant / Caddo, Oklahoma area. He attended Abilene Christian College until money ran out, then he preached at Pueblo, Colorado where he first met G. C. Brewer. Then he went back to Oklahoma and then joined the Army Air Corps in 1940 and was stationed in Lubbock and San Antonio, where he met my mother. Many of their dates were to small congregations where he and another Abilene Christian College friend preached (Hondo, TX). Then he was sent to England in April 1944 as a ground commander and he was also assistant chaplain. He returned to Texas in July 1945 and was a deacon at Central in Houston, Texas. He preached occasionally at Central and other congregations. We moved to Tomball, Texas where he preached for about two years. Next he went to Ennis, Texas where he preached at Reagor Springs for eight years. After that he went to Searcy, Arkansas. During those thirty-six years he preached at various congregations around Searcy. He held a lot of meetings in Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. He always drew a timeline on the blackboard, beginning with creation, adding Abraham, Moses, the cross and resurrection, Pentecost, so whatever he preached could be put into historical perspective. --his daughter, Deanna Mills Brooks via Facebook, Dec. 7, 2013.

Daddy was baptized May 31, 1927 (think I have the year right)...began preaching when he was 17 and preached all of his life...some local full time work, but most of the time it was Sunday preaching for small congregations while he also worked elsewhere. He joined the Army Air Corps a few weeks after Pearl Harbor, wanting to be a pilot, but he was 1/4" too short...and I have been so thankful, b/c so many pilots did not make it back. At that time he did not have his college degree, so although he was an officer...he went to OCS in Miami...he could not be a chaplain. When he was shipped to England in April 1944, the Methodist chaplain found out he had preached and immediately put him to work as his right hand man! Daddy had a lot of opportunities to preach...he sent planes out and counted them back in...wrote the letters home to loved ones when a plane did not return...worked with Princess Elizabeth when she came to the base to learn from the mechanics (she was a mechanic during the War.) ---Deanna Mills Brooks, Dec. 7, 2016

Contributed on 7/26/20 by hawkinsdonna48
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Record #: 1330344

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Submitted: 7/26/20 • Approved: 7/27/20 • Last Updated: 7/30/20 • R1330344-G0-S3

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