Willard, 84, of Sterling Heights, Michigan, died March 30, 2008, and is buried in the Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver, Colorado. He was born November 2, 1923, in Tremonton, Colorado. Bud retired as a Colonel from the U.S. Army. His last duty assignment was serving as the operations action officer for the United States Army Material Command for the Emergency Operations. He was a paratrooper in WWII and served in the Korean War and Vietnam.

Willard enlisted in the Army in April 1943 and was discharged in January of 1946. He jumped at McCall for the 1946-47 seasons and had nine training and 15 fire jumps. He enlisted in the Army again in 1949 and retired in December 1970.