FReeper Canteen ~ Hall of Heroes: Hershel W Williams ~ 30 April 2018

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[Kathy in Alaska]

 

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~ Hall of Heroes ~

Hershel W. Williams

Info from here.

           

Hershel Woodrow "Woody" Williams (born October 2, 1923) is a retired United States Marine who received the Medal of Honor for his actions in the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II.

Born in Fairmont, West Virginia, on October 2, 1923, Williams grew up on a dairy farm in nearby Quiet Dell. He worked a series of odd jobs in the area, including as a truck driver for W.S. Harr Construction Company of Fairmont and as a taxi driver. After being turned away once from the U.S. military for being too short, he successfully enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve in Charleston, West Virginia, on May 26, 1943

Williams received his recruit training at the 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.

Williams joined the 32nd Replacement Battalion on October 30, 1943, and left for New Caledonia in the southwest Pacific on December 3 aboard the M.S. Weltey Reden. In January 1944, he joined the 3rd Marine Division at Guadalcanal. He was attached to the 1st Battalion, 21st Marines, first to Company C and then to Headquarters Company.

During July and August 1944, he participated in action against the Japanese at Guam, and in October he rejoined Company C.

His next campaign was at Iwo Jima where he distinguished himself with actions "above and beyond the call of duty" — for which he would be awarded the Medal ofHonor. Landing on February 21, 1945, Williams, by then a corporal, distinguished himself two days later when American tanks, trying to open a lane for infantry, encountered a network of reinforced concrete pillboxes, buried mines, and black volcanic sands. Williams went forward alone with his 70-pound (32 kg) flamethrower to attempt the reduction of devastating machine gun fire from the unyielding positions.

Covered by only four riflemen, he fought for four hours under terrific enemy small-arms fire and repeatedly returned to his own lines to prepare demolition charges and obtain serviced flame throwers. He returned to the front, frequently to the rear of hostile emplacements, to wipe out one position after another. At one point, a wisp of smoke alerted him to the air vent of a Japanese bunker, and he approached close enough to put the nozzle of his flamethrower through the hole, killing the occupants. On another occasion, he charged enemy riflemen who attempted to stop him with bayonets and destroyed them with a burst of flame from his weapon.

These actions occurred on the same day as the raising of the U.S. flag on the island's Mount Suribachi, although Williams was not able to witness the event. He fought through the remainder of the five-week-long battle and was wounded on March 6, for which he was awarded the Purple Heart.

In September 1945, he returned to the United States, and on the October 1, he joined Marine Corps Headquarters in Washington, D.C. He was presented the Medal of Honor by President Harry S. Truman on October 5, 1945, at the White House.

On October 22, 1945, he was transferred to the Marine Barracks, Naval Training Center, Bainbridge, Maryland, for discharge. He was discharged from the Marine Corps Reserve on November 6, 1945. In March 1948, he reenlisted in the inactive Marine Corps Reserve, but was again discharged on August 4, 1949.

On October 20, 1954, he joined the Organized Marine Reserve when the 98th Special Infantry Company was authorized by Marine Corps Headquarters, Clarksburg, West Virginia. He transferred to the 25th Infantry Company in Huntington, West Virginia on June 9, 1957. He later became the (Interim) Commanding Officer of that unit as a warrant officer on June 6, 1960. He was designated the Mobilization Officer for the 25th Infantry Company and surrounding Huntington area on June 11, 1963.

He was advanced through the warrant officer ranks during his time in the Reserves until reaching his final rank of Chief Warrant Officer 4 (CWO-4). Although CWO-4 Williams technically did not meet retirement requirements, he was honorarily retired from the Marine Corps Reserve in 1969 after approximately 17 years of service

Williams struggled with the after-effects of combat stress until 1962, when he experienced a religious renewal. He later served as chaplain of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society for 35 year

The President of the United States takes pride in presenting the
MEDAL OF HONOR
to
CORPORAL HERSHEL W. WILLIAMS
UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS RESERVE
for service as set forth in the following CITATION:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as Demolition Sergeant serving with the First Battalion, Twenty-First Marines, Third Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima, Volcano Island, 23 February 1945. Quick to volunteer his services when our tanks were maneuvering vainly to open a lane for the infantry through the network of reinforced concrete pillboxes, buried mines and black, volcanic sands, Corporal Williams daringly went forward alone to attempt the reduction of devastating machine-gun fire from the unyielding positions. Covered only by four riflemen, he fought desperately for four hours under terrific enemy small-arms fire and repeatedly returned to his own lines to prepare demolition charges and obtain serviced flame throwers, struggling back, frequently to the rear of hostile emplacements, to wipe out one position after another. On one occasion he daringly mounted a pillbox to insert the nozzle of his flame thrower through the air vent, kill the occupants and silence the gun; on another he grimly charged enemy riflemen who attempted to stop him with bayonets and destroyed them with a burst of flame from his weapon. His unyielding determination and extraordinary heroism in the face of ruthless enemy resistance were directly instrumental in neutralizing one of the most fanatically defended Japanese strong points encountered by his regiment and aided in enabling his company to reach its' objective. Corporal Williams' aggressive fighting spirit and valiant devotion to duty throughout this fiercely contested action sustain and enhance the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

/S/ HARRY S. TRUMAN

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In 1965, Williams received West Virginia's Distinguished Service Medal. In 1967, he was honored by the Veteran's Administration with the Vietnam Service Medal for service as a civilian counselor to the armed forces.

In 1999, he was added to the City of Huntington Foundation's "Wall of Fame".

Named in his honor:

the West Virginia National Guard Armory in Fairmont, West Virginia;
a bridge at Barboursville, West Virginia; and
an athletic field at Huntington, West Virginia.

Please remember the Canteen is here to honor, support and entertain our troops and their families.  This is a politics-free zone!  Thanks for helping us in our mission! 

[radu]

Well that sucks pond water!!! Bummer you can’t enjoy the moon tonight. It’s a bright one. No flashlight needed at all to walk around outside.

I walked around a couple of minutes trying to decide where to snap pix and the pecan leaves and tassels said, “Here! Here!” LOL! Next month the leaves will be large enough it won’t work as well.

[radu]

Howdy, PRO!

I was afraid you’d already gone to bed by now. My thanks to your son for keeping you up! LOL
Sounds like y’all had a fine afternoon and evening.

Write those forgotten items in LARGE letters on your shopping list. :-)

It was a pretty day but a little cool. Since Hubby was on the mower - - ah-CHOO! - - I stayed in and did a bunch of housework. SOOOOO much fun.
NOT!

Tomorrow I haul Dexter’s big butt to the vet to have the stitches removed from his ear.

[radu]

Glad you liked it. It does have a bit of an Oriental look to it, doesn’t it?

[radu]

No moon for you either?
Doubly unfair since you aren’t getting any rain with your clouds.

[radu]

Have you checked Latvia yet? Da lil behbeh is ADORABLE!
And poor Milda seems confused. “What IS that little thing?” LOL!

[radu]

My favorite moment so far. LOL!

[luvie]

Awwwww....that is precious! Last time I checked it was still very dark. I gotta go look now.

[radu]

Plenty of daylight time to go back into on the rewind. That’s what I did.

Milda’s already doing great for a first-time-mom.

[luvie]

That’s what I did. I just had to see what she did when she first saw it. And it’s so cute. I haven’t seen Raimis show up yet with fresh food yet,though. Some of the stuff on that nest looks ancient. LOL!

[luvie]

Yeah?

[radu]

Raimis showed up twice and Milda made him feel quite unwelcome. The first time (5:54), he had a little fish and Milda stole it from him and ate it. The second time(6:10) was a repeat.

The large fish was delivered yesterday afternoon and is about right for feeding the eaglet now. She fed it a couple of bites but it isn’t really ready to eat yet.

[radu]

Yeah! LOL!

WOOHOO!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, mountainlion. I, too, have that helpless feeling. Thank God hitlery isn’t president!!

I pray every day that somehow this administration can drain enough of the swamp to save our country.

God, please, bless our America of “old”.

[E.G.C.]

A very pleasant good Monday morning to everyone at the Canteen and to all our military at home and abroad. Thanks for your service to our country. ((HUGS))Good morning, Ladies. Thanks for this morning’s thread,, Star. How’s it going?

[luvie]

Darn, I ran that video back twice and never did see him show up! Oh, well there will be plenty of chances to watch both of them with that little fuzz top!

Guess I’ll go for tonight. The wind has been blowing and my allergies have kicked up a notch. Coughing like crazy. See ya tomorrow. Enjoy watching the nests. I’ll probably peek in one more time before logging off.

[radu]

Do you run your cursor along the red line and watch the thumbnails for activity? It should have been easy to see when he showed up. I gave you the times so you could find his arrivals.
Poor feller doesn’t know he’s a daddy yet because Milda hasn’t let him see the behbeh. He needs to know so he’ll bring more fish! LOL

Hope that wind dies down so your allergies won’t wear you out. No fun!

[luvie]

I did go back and catch the 6:something time and she sure is keeping that baby a close secret so far. LOL!

Now I really am going. :) Nite!

[radu]

She’s been VERY rude to Raimis, poor guy. He didn’t stay long either time and doesn’t seem in any hurry to return. Who can blame him? LOL

Watching the Kocser nest for now, waiting for a look at the eggs. It’s pip-watch time now and that cam doesn’t have rewind. And the darn stork doesn’t seem in any hurry to stand up to give us a look.

Sleep well. Hope that coughing doesn’t interrupt your sleep.

[left that other site]

Indeed. I have actually been able, in the past, to hand-make large editions of self-published, self-recorded, self-arranged, self-performed, and self-manufactured Audio CDs. These editions of hundreds were individually handmade in my own personal studio in a spare room in my apartment. Many independent musicians in S. Florida partook of my services, and it was a joy.

Now, one can’t even buy the raw materials to manufacture these.

Back-in-the-day, Office Depot used to sell me the blanks, jewel cases, labeling software, inks, and special paper in bulk!

And there was NO copyright infringement as it was all original music. We were NOT hurting the big music companies because it was a tiny niche market. But I guess that just “wouldn’t do”.

One sees the only recording workstations in thrift stores on occasion, but the media is obsolete and nobody has the means to play the music anymore.

[luvie]

She was rude! LOL! Snatched those fish and basically told him to get lost. Haven’t checked on them this morning.