Hershel "Woody" Williams
( 1923 - 2022 )

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When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, Hershel Woodrow Williams (1923-2022,  a young farm boy, tried  to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps. No Way, the Marines said. All recruits had to be at least 5 feet, 8 inches tall. He was 3 inches too short. But he didn't give up. He just waited. In 1943, the Marine Corps, badly in need of recruits, did away with its heoght requirement. Soon Williams ---- known to family ans friends as "Woody" ---- was part of the huge invasion force that stormed the Japanese stronghold of Iwo Jima. That day saw an officer ask for a volunteer to try taking out the Japanese pillboxes that had his men pinned down. Strapping on a flamethrower, Williams crawled toward the pillboxes. Once he was close enough, he pulled the trigger and a ball of flame raced across the ground and into the gun port of the pillbox, incinerating the Japanese inside. Williams took out seven pillboxes that day ---- an incredible feat that soon would have him standing at attention in the White House Rose Garden as President Truman presented him the Congressional Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military decoration.

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