Bill, he was the first past national commander to earn the Legion's Distinguished Service Medal in 1975.

He graduated from Oberlin College in 1913, from law school at the University of Pittsburgh in 1916, and was admitted to the Utah bar in 1917.

[3] Colmery served in the United States Army Air Service during World War I as an instructor and pursuit pilot.

[3] Colmery married his college sweetheart, Minerva Harriet Hiserodt, on December 20, 1919.

[3] The Colmery-O'Neil Veterans Administration Hospital in Topeka, Kansas, is named in honor of him.