Hershel Williams, last Medal of Honor recipient from WWII, dies at 98 [View all]

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Source: Washington Post

Obituaries

Hershel Williams, last Medal of Honor recipient from WWII, dies at 98

By Emily Langer
June 29, 2022 at 1:00 p.m. EDT

Hershel W. “Woody” Williams, a Marine Corps veteran of the Battle of Iwo Jima who was the last surviving Medal of Honor recipient from World War II, died June 29 at a hospital in Huntington, W.Va. He was 98. ... His death was announced by the Woody Williams Foundation, a nonprofit organization that serves Gold Star military families, and by the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. The cause was not immediately available.

Mr. Williams, who grew up on a West Virginia dairy farm, was a 21-year-old Marine corporal when he carried out the assault on the Japanese at Iwo Jima for which he received the nation’s highest military award for valor.

A farm boy became a fearsome warrior at Iwo Jima. And he did it with a flamethrower.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2020/02/18/farm-boy-became-fearsome-warrior-iwo-jima-he-did-it-with-flamethrower/

He found himself on the volcanic island in the first days of the U.S. invasion that began on Feb. 19, 1945. ... One of the bloodiest battles in Marine Corps history, Iwo Jima is seared in American memory as the site of the flag-raising at Mount Suribachi on Feb. 23, 1945. The moment was captured in a Pulitzer Prize-winning image by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal and commemorated in the Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, Va.

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President Harry S. Truman awarded Mr. Williams the Medal of Honor in 1945. (Rich-Joseph Facun for The Washington Post)

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By Emily Langer
Emily Langer is a reporter on The Washington Post’s obituaries desk. She writes about extraordinary lives in national and international affairs, science and the arts, sports, culture, and beyond. She previously worked for the Outlook and Local Living sections. Twitter https://twitter.com/emilylangerWP

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/06/29/hershel-williams-wwii-medal-honor-dead/

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Hershel Williams, last living Medal of Honor recipient of World War II, dies at 98

washingtonpost.com
Hershel Williams, last living Medal of Honor recipient of World War II, dies at 98
He received the nation’s highest military award for valor for his actions at the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945.

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