Hershel Woodrow "Woody" Williams, USMC, CMOH--Iwo Jima

[mvm71]

A Great and True American Hero!!

Thanks for showing,
Mike

[Ron C.]

Update on Woody

For those of you who have wondered about Woody, he is going strong......it is me that has been "falling down" on the job so to speak.

Woody is getting an English Bulldog for Christmas - his name is Chesty! He is not really a replacement for Abednego, since nobody could actually replace him; however, Chesty, I am sure will not live in Abednego's shadow....but will be his "own man" in so many words. For those of you who don't know, I suspect Chesty is named for Lieutenant General Lewis Burwell "Chesty" Puller, at least one of the most decorated Marines ever, who idolized one of my very distant cousins....a fellow by the name of Thomas J. Jackson, or as they called him "Stonewall"......a very very distant cousin. Just a personal observation....although General Puller was indeed a very brave Marine and a great one too, I don't think he had a CMOH........but Woody does.

I don't want to forget to tell you that Woody is doing the coin toss for the Armed Forces Military Bowl being played on Thursday afternoon at RFK stadium in D.C..

So Woody is still going strong for those of you who have been wondering about him, I am trying to but am much afraid I can't keep up with him.

Ron

[Don D.]

Excellent news Ron. Thanks for the update.

[Ralph P]

Great thread todate and thanks for the update...much appreciated.

[Ron C.]

Woody tells about the action on Iwo Jima

In case you hadn't seen this, Woody tells about the action on Iwo Jima which resulted in his being awarded the CMOH.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Stl_Y...layer_embedded

[Ron C.]

Video clip of Woody on "Sons of Guns" operating flamethrower

There are two short videos on Woody.....the first one is the flamethrower. Warning: there are commercials that come on much louder than the main video.

http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/so...rower-hero.htm

Ron

[Ron C.]

Find out about "Woody".

Some people almost seem to think that "Woody" "belongs" to me.......he does not.......he is his own man, and what he did belongs to everybody whose freedom he helped protect, save and secure that day on Iwo Jima. Therefore, you can contact him directly through FaceBook https://www.facebook.com/hershel.w.williams. You may obtain information about "Woody" there which will be more current and exact that I could ever provide........or, you may also contact his grandson, Brent Casey on FaceBook as well. He gave me this fb://profile/1325735631 for the contact info; however, I do not use FaceBook and know nothing about the use of it, nor do I ever want to use it, so I really just know what he sent me. Accordingly, I suggest that you contact them, and I will not likely be posting very much more, if anything, about "Woody" here in the future.

Please do not get the wrong idea from this post. I have not been told to stop posting about "Woody", there is no problem between us or Brent, nobody is mad at anyone, and I have the greatest respect for them and what he did. I had no connection with "Woody" as a relative or any other way, except that he is a fellow West Virginian who did something above and beyond the call of duty for us and his country on Iwo Jima...........for which I and a lot of others much more important than me honor him greatly.

This is simply the best and most direct way for you to be informed about what "Woody" is doing.

I thank you for all the kind things that you have said about the posting both in the post and in the many private messages I have gotten.

Ron

[Ron C.]

Woody with Gold Star Mothers in West Virginia's 150th birthday parade

[Ron C.]

Just Released!! Woody Williams - Wall of Memory

Although I said I likely would not be posting much more on Woody, I got a message from his grandson, Brent Casey, tonight which causes me to make another post about Woody.

I know from the many comments and messages I have gotten due to the postings about Woody that many of you honor him too, and are interested in what he is doing.

Brent sent me this:

"This is one of Woody's 'brain childs' along with the Gold Star Families Monuments he is working at placing in various places around the country.


We have created the Hershel Woody Williams Medal of Honor Foundation (501(c)3) which is gathering momentum as the website and literature materials are now being developed.


More to come!!




Check out this video on YouTube to see the project:

http://youtu.be/GH5FewzNXcI







Warm Regards and Godspeed,




Brent Casey


Staff Photographer,
Congressional Medal of Honor Society (http://www.cmohs.org/)".

Accordingly, I am posting it. I highly recommend you watch it.........it is only about 3 minutes long.

Ron

[Ron C.]

Update on "Woody's" Foundation

Brent has sent me further on the foundation. Here is his Foundation FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/hwwmohfoundation .

Ron

[Ron C.]

About Woody's foundation and the purpose.

Established in 2012, we are a charitable not-for-profit organization that pursues specific goals and objectives through the vision of Medal of Honor Recipient Hershel "Woody" Williams. These specific goals and objectives are centered around core values.


Mission Statement

Perpetuate the Medal of Honor's legacy through outreach and collaborative efforts with individuals and organizations who strive to educate the public about patriotism, sacrifice, courage and selfless service.

Raise funds for initiatives that promote what the Medal of Honor represents, and the ideals that it stands for.

Promote American values and the qualities of the American way of life through increased awareness, education, behavior and example.

Some of the projects so far:

Projects
Gold Star Families Memorial Monument
Our projects currently include the promotion, creation, and implementation of Gold Star Families Memorial Monuments throughout the country. The original monument was established at the Donel C. Kinnard Memorial State Veterans Cemetery, 130 Academy Drive, Dunbar, WV in 2013. A second Gold Star Families Memorial monument is being planned by the patriotic citizens of Marietta, Ga. Woody recently presented the Gold Star Families Memorial Monument project to the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Va. for their consideration in placing one on the Museum grounds.

Medal of Honor ~ Wall of Memory
Several years ago Woody had a vision to create a “first of its kind in the United States” Medal of Honor Wall of Memory that could be designed and displayed in veterans’ hospitals and veterans’ nursing homes to honor and pay tribute to the Medal of Honor Recipients from the surrounding communities of those locations. Initially, the Hershel “Woody” Williams Medal of Honor Foundation plans to carry out Woody’s hopes for “a Dedication Wall in the other 3 VA Hospitals in the state of West Virginia”. The goal of the Foundation will be to collaborate with the other veterans’ hospitals and veterans’ nursing homes in the other 49 states and dedicate a Medal of Honor Wall of Memory in every location possible.

This initiative includes the placing of Medal of Honor Walls of Memory in various veterans’ facilities honoring the Recipients from their area. Two of these Memorial Walls have been placed in veteran's facilities in West Virginia. Woody’s vision is to create and place a Medal of Honor Wall of Memory in veterans’ facilities throughout the country. Currently the Foundation is pursuing an opportunity to place a Medal of Honor Wall of Memory in Indianapolis, IN at the Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center

[Ron C.]

October 2nd was Woody's 90th birthday, my son, Robert; my friend, Bob; and I were invited to his party; however, due to a glitch we didn't get to go. It was disappointing, but it was one of those things that happen from time to time in life......and it was nobody's fault.

Ron

[Ron C.]

With regard to the glitch re the party, what happened was the facility where it was being held at the last moment made them move the party forward one day to October 1.......the day before Woody's actual birthday. The new notifications were sent in a hurry; however, they missed sending notices to some of us. So we showed up one day late for the party, but on Woody's actual birthday when it was originally scheduled. It was not anyone's fault really.........things happen.

However today I got these things in the mail from Brent and Woody. I really don't want them to feel bad about the whole thing. Long ago now one day on Iwo Jima Woody already did enough for me.......and all the rest of us, as did all the veterans. He certainly doesn't need to make any "apologies" to anyone for anything, but it feels good that they cared enough to think of us.

This is what they sent:





A postcard with a copy of the photo that was presented to the crew of the USS Iwo Jima at the ceremony we attended (shown earlier in this post).




I think this might have been a card given out at the party.



the back.



Finally, Woody's birthday party also served as an official "kickoff" of sorts for his foundation. Woody has been trying since his return from the black sands of Iwo Jima to honor all the "true Heroes" as I have heard him call them......all the ones who never made it back to speak for themselves. He says he wears the medal for them, and it is their medal. Many of the veterans are gone now; however, he still works for the ones left.....even though he is now 90 years old, and is the last surviving Medal of Honor recipient from Iwo Jima and also the last one from West Virginia, and he has branched out a bit with scholarships and other worthwhile projects. Woody does not personally profit by the donations, except to know that he is still helping others. This is a pamphlet that tells you a bit about the foundation.





I am sure he and Brent would greatly appreciate any help you would care to donate to his foundation to join with Woody in honoring the memory of his "true Heroes" and the other good causes he is pursuing, and you might let him know where you heard about the foundation....let him know that you learned about it on this forum in this post. Military Collectors above all should be willing to help honor veterans........not only did the veterans make it so we could collect the things we want..........they also brought back many of the things some of us have in our collections.

Ron

[Ron C.]

"Woody's" Plans

Although "Woody" is rich in many ways, he is not really a wealthy man; however, he has plans to honor veterans and their families, as well as to reach out to children to help them. He hopes to do this buy raising awareness and money to help accomplish this end. He is older now, but he is still going strong, but he needs help.

I have not been asked by him or his family to do this, but I think military collectors could and should help him. To see his plans........and to help him, please go here.

http://www.hwwmohfoundation.org/

Ron
Just a West Virginian who is proud to know "Woody" and call him and Brent friends.

[Ron C.]

I was looking through this thread again today, and discovered that some of the links do not work now......sorry, I never thought about the fact that they went to newspapers and such and events changed.

However on the good side Woody has not "expired" like some of my links.......he is still with us.

Ron