By Natalie O'Neill
New York Post
The last living Medal of Honor recipient from World War II — a hero who fought enemy forces with a flamethrower in Iwo Jima — died Wednesday morning in West Virginia. He was 98.
Hershel “Woody” Williams, a former Marine corporal who earned the military’s highest decoration for his bravery in the Battle of Iwo Jima, died peacefully at a veterans medical center, according to The Woody Williams Foundation.
“Today at 3:15 a.m., Hershel Woodrow Williams, affectionately known by many as Woody went home to be with the Lord. Woody peacefully joined his beloved wife Ruby while surrounded by his family at the VA Medical Center which bears his name,” the foundation said in a statement.
Williams was awarded the Medal of Honor after he used a flamethrower and explosives to clear seven concrete bunkers known as pillboxes while under heavy machine gunfire in February 1945.
As all of the men in Williams’ company perished, he kept pushing forward — at one point shoving a flamethrower nozzle into one of the small concrete boxes and killing the enemies inside.
He then refueled his weapon and boldly returned five more times to destroy the remaining pillboxes.
The war hero later said he remembered little from that fateful day and that his mind was “just a blank.”
He was initially turned away from the armed forces for being too short at 5 feet 6, but as the war raged on, requirements became less strict.
In 1943, he enlisted in the Marines, where he honed his skills with a flamethrower, according to his biography.
“It wasn’t anything outstanding that particular day, February 23, 1945,” Williams told WSAZ ina previous report. “It was just another day of battle, as far as I was concerned. I was just the guy who was trained to do the flamethrower.”
In March 2020, a military vessel was named in his honor, the USS Hershel “Woody” Williams.
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice said Wednesday he will sign a proclamation to lower all state and national flags to half-staff statewide this week in honor of Williams.
“Today, America lost not just a valiant Marine and a Medal of Honor recipient, but an important link to our nation’s fight against tyranny in the Second World War,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said. “I hope every American will pause to reflect on his service and that of an entire generation that sacrificed so much to defend the cause of freedom and democracy.”
9 comments:
RIP hero
So what?
that guy looks like a real pussy.
No honor in a warrior dying so calmly.
This country loses another great man! May he rest in peace. When all men are gone who will protect us? Will participants of the LGBTQ movement strap on their boots and go to war for us? No! They’re too busy chasing rainbows. Will participants of the BLM movement put on their fatigues and go to war for us? No! They’re too busy burning, looting and killing. What will happen to this country when all men are gone? I guess this will be the time for women to take the lead. The era of man is slowly diminishing into the horizon. Adios Amigos
It is apparent that the majority of the people commenting on this article lack respect to those great men that served. If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all. The lack of respect and the use of profanity only shows a persons ignorance.
July 1, 2022 at 9:17 AM, July 1, 2022 at 9:51 AM, July 1, 2022 at 9:59 AM
comments made by a racist republican child, or a hillbilly clueless pendejo. There is NO respect just follow their idol regardless. These are the same traitors that ran to canada and mexico to avoid serving and protecting this country.
Just like Trump who avoided the draft not one but three times. And he's patriotic? Pathetic that is.
All these jotos with negative posting about heros are the ones that headed to canada and mexico during all the wars. TRAITORS
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