5th Dec Hershel "Woody" Williams

Good morning,

This Monday as we all get ready for a new week, we must remember all our brave servicemen and woman past and present.

Today we salute the last living Medal of Honor recipient from WWII who passed away in June this year.

Hershel Woodrow "Woody" Williams

A United States Marine Corps Sergeant Major, Woody bravely fought against Japanese forces on Iwo Jima (Volcanic Island) which was amongst some of the fiercest fighting of the whole war. Read on for details of his incredible bravery ⬇️ 

Williams, born in West Virginia, was the youngest of 11, yes you read it correctly 11 children! He was drawn to the Marines because of the dress blue uniforms that were worn by servicemen in his hometown but he considered the brown wool uniform of the Army ugly. But when he first tried to enlist in 1942 he was considered "too short for service" and was only accepted the following year when this restriction was lifted.

Williams received his recruit training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, California. Upon completion, he was sent to the Camp Elliott training center in San Diego, where he joined the tank training battalion on August 21, 1943. The following month he was transferred to the training center's infantry battalion for instruction as a demolition man and in the use of flamethrowers. There was little training on the operational use of the weapon. "We had to learn that ourselves", he said.

In January 1944, he joined Company C, 1st Battalion, 21st Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division at Guadalcanal and saw action against the Japanese before the famous Battle of Iwo Jima.

This was Williams' final campaign where he distinguished himself with actions "above and beyond the call of duty", for which he would be awarded the Medal of Honor. On February 21, 1945, he landed on the beach with the 1st Battalion, 21st Marines. Williams, by then a corporal, distinguished himself two days later when American tanks, trying to open a lane for the infantry, encountered a network of reinforced concrete pillboxes.

Pinned down by machine-gun fire, his company commander asked one of his men to attach a high explosive charge to a pole and, supported by Williams, his flamethrower and several Marine riflemen. As they fought their way to the pillbox, all of the men, except Williams, became casualties. Undeterred, Williams arrived at the first pillbox, shoved the flamethrower nozzle into the pillbox opening and fired the weapon, killing all of the soldiers inside. He then returned five times to his company area, refueled his weapon, and moved forward to destroy the remaining pillboxes.

On October 5th 1945 he was presented the Medal of Honor by President Truman and was honorably retired from the Marine Corps Reserve in 1969 after approximately 17 years of service as a warrant officer.

"I was crawling up this little pitch, and they were shooting at me with a machine gun. The bullets were ricocheting off my flamethrower. I moved to the right so they couldn’t shoot at me. I saw blue smoke coming out of the top of the pillbox. I crawled on top of it, and there was a pipe. They were cooking. I stuck the flamethrower down the pipe and filled the pillbox with flame" Williams (12/4/2022)

May he Rest in Peace.

Did you know?

Williams set up a Foundation for Gold Star Families (a family member who lost a loved one in military service). This foundation has helped many families and his legacy lives on though this.

Let us know your thoughts on this email by hitting reply and have a great day.