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Remembering Hershel Woodrow ``Woody'' Williams
Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, I rise today to speak on the life and legacy of my dear friend, the last surviving World War II Medal of Honor Recipient, West Virginian, and one of the last of the ``greatest generation,'' Woody Williams of Quiet Dell, WV.
Before I begin today, I want to recognize members of Woody's family who are here today with us in the Gallery, and in recognizing all of them, I want to say thank you. Thank you for being here and thank you for sharing Woody all those years with me and Shelley and all of our West Virginians.
We are here today to respect Woody's wishes of honoring all veterans and their families and to pay respects to our Nation's last living World War II Medal of Honor recipient.
To the family, I want to say this: You are the legacy he was most proud of, all of you, and I am honored to welcome--Senator Capito, both of us, are welcoming you, which is Woody's legacy, still here, and thank you.
But we are going to respect his wishes, and his wishes, basically, were honoring veterans and their families and to pay respects to the Nation's last living World War II Medal of Honor recipient.
It has been 77 years since Woody Williams quieted those enemy machineguns on the sands of Iwo Jima, and while he is now sadly gone, the ideals that he lived by are not: the love of his family, his friends and his faith and service to country above all.
GEN George Patton once said:
It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather, we should thank God that such men lived.
Woody lived every day as if he were given a second chance, and we are all so much better for it.
And, boy, did Woody live for a long time. His grandson Brent Casey passed along Woody's recipe for a long life. I hope I have got all this right. He would say when asked:
It's Braggs apple cider vinegar, and it has to have the
``mother,'' and, you know, the cloudy stuff in the bottom of the bottle, mixed with local honey, and 6 ounces of warm water. You can add some pure maple syrup for extra flavoring if you'd like.
And Woody said:
I've been drinking it every morning since the early 1960s.
About 3 years ago, he got it printed on a business card because he said he was so tired of reciting it every time someone asked, and he handed out quite a few of those cards too.
One of my favorite Woody quotes is the one he cited when his great-
grandson Cedar graduated from Marine boot camp. When Woody was asked what it meant to be a marine, he said:
By taking that oath, you can take my life, but you cannot take my country or my freedom.
You cannot take my country or my freedom. That says it all about Woody.
During the ceremony in West Virginia last weekend, Woody's grandson Chad said:
We must remember what Woody taught us. There are few things in the world that we can do alone. It is only through the support of others that we can truly reach our goals. So look to your left and look to your right. We are all a part of his legacy, and it is up to us to carry it forward. In the words of Woody, ``The cause is greater than I.''
One of Woody's last wishes was lying in state at the U.S. Capitol, and it wasn't for himself. We spoke about this years ago. It wasn't for himself, but he wanted to make sure that we represent all Medal of Honor recipients from World War II, and there were only 472--of the whole war, 472.
Tomorrow, the West Virginia farm boy from Quiet Dell will lie in honor in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, laying to rest the sacrifices of a generation of heroes. That is what we do tomorrow.
Woody can rest in peace knowing his mission is complete.
I will miss Woody because he was my wingman or may I say this: We maybe were all his wingmen, and I think that is what he would have preferred.
Woody always had a project for everyone around him. Everyone sitting up there, he had projects for you. He had projects for me and projects for Shelley. He made sure that we understood exactly what he wanted done.
As his grandson Bryan Casey said, ``If you met with Woody, you know he always had a project for everyone. He would magically produce napkins and sharpies with his projects--typically with him diagramming the project while we watched and listened. They were not always unused napkins, but they always became works of art.''
Woody came to me a few years ago and said that we needed to help the Gold Star families in West Virginia and across the whole country. So we started a motorcycle ride for fallen service heroes. We did six of those rides--and Woody was in his nineties--and he was there every time in that sling shot, just giving it all he had, and he stayed right with us.
We raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Gold Star families. Some of those funds, as you know, went into monuments across the Nation, including the one that sits at the Capitol we honored also with the laying of the wreath.
I know how many good things Woody and I worked on together. If you multiply that by all the other people he worked with, you will fully realize Woody's incredible impact on West Virginia and the entire country.
That is why he got a ship, a VA hospital, and a National Guard Reserve Center named after him.
Most recently, because of Woody, our VA medical centers were saved. His testimony ended the AIR Commission, which would have turned three of our four West Virginia VA medical centers into urgent care centers, as well as countless others across the Nation. And, really, in rural America, rural veterans would not have been served.
Every veteran in the Nation can thank Woody for saving their VA hospital.
Woody was with me when I was Governor and helped so much as we stood up to the Cabinet Secretary for Veterans Affairs. Then he was the founding member of my Senate Veterans Advisory Group, where he led efforts to clean up the Clarksburg and Beckley VAMCs.
He helped get the first Fisher House. I remember we called Ken Fisher. Ken came in, met with Woody, and it was over. It was going to be done. It was that quick. It was unbelievable, and I know it gave so much solace to the family when they got to spend a few moments in that beautiful place. It was really something very, very special.
Woody has been there every step of the way, making sure that families of the fallen receive death gratuities during government shutdowns. That was the time that he said: Joe, we have to do something. He said: The shutdown is preventing us from giving the gratuities the families need.
That is when we called Ken Fisher, and that is when we all became very good friends with Fisher House. Ken Fisher was the leader of that. That is how that all began, and Ken was happy to step up.
Naming the first Gold Star Children's Day, August 1--he was instrumental in that.
It was also amazing that so many people from across the country and each of our States that we represent in this great deliberative body had so many good things to say about Woody because his legacy runs farther than just West Virginia, as you know.
I didn't realize the magnitude of Woody's impact until I traveled with him to California and also in Virginia when his ship was commissioned and it was christened. And, when that happened, I mean, from the brass all the way down to the ensigns on this ship, the marines learned about being a marine because of studying Woody Williams.
I didn't realize the impact that he had. It was unbelievable. I am there, and I had all of these people coming to me and telling me the impact that he had on them and how much they admired him.
But I am always remembering the one general telling me how they studied Woody Williams in the Marine Corps. I never forgot that. He said: Let me tell you, I know you know him as a friend. I know you know him as representing your State. Let me tell you how he represented the Marine Corps.
So when marines learn how to be marines, they learn about Woody Williams.
I always knew that West Virginia had a treasure with Woody, but what I didn't know is that he was their treasure also. I will forever be grateful that Woody and his family gave me the gift of spending time with him in Huntington. And when Mara and I were able to go down that Sunday morning before he passed, it was such a special day. He was as chirpy and bright as ever. You would not think that anything was really that much different.
And I said: Woody, I think someone wants to speak to you.
It was Denis McDonough, who is the Secretary of the VA for the United States of America. He wanted to speak to Woody, and Woody was so thrilled. It was a great conversation. And just as true to form as Woody, he said, ``Mr. Secretary, I have to tell you just a couple of things,'' and he went into exactly what needed to be done. It was just classic. Denis called me afterward to explain the conversation, and he was so tickled.
It took a Woody, also, to be able to have that conversation. And he was just full of life. He was still full of life, and he was still full of ambition to get things accomplished.
In his final days, he stayed the same as I always knew him. As you know, he was quick as a whip, kind, selfless, and concerned for his fellow veterans and the families and all of you. He was concerned about everybody.
And he was ready. It was a moment that I will cherish the rest of my days being able to spend that little bit of time at the end there. But in true Woody fashion, he gave me marching orders that day. He said that one of his last wishes was enclosing the committal shelter at the Donel C. Kinnard Memorial State Veterans Cemetery. Senator Capito got the same order I got. It is on our to-do list, and it will get done so that the families will be protected from the elements when paying their final respects. It is something that should be done in every shelter and every VA burial ground, in every VA cemetery.
But, of course, this project was bigger than just West Virginia for Woody. It will probably lead to a national effort. I can promise you this: that we are going to get that done. It was a commitment we made to Woody, and it will happen.
As President Biden said upon Woody's passing, ``I don't throw the word `hero' around lightly, but if I'm going to use it, I'd use it for a guy like Woody Williams. . . . Heroism--like it did for Woody--can come in all shapes and sizes.''
Woody Williams was far more than just a hero. He was the greatest of the ``greatest generation'' and a model for future generations.
From what I know, Woody's greatest wish was for all of us to continue his mission, to give back to each other, to love our country. As his grandson Bryan said last week, ``I have the project that he wants each of you to work on. A couple of them, actually.''
And, today, I will ask each of you to work on these projects, too. If Gold Star families in your area are traveling more than an hour to one of the Gold Star Family Memorial Monuments, they are traveling too far. Your project is to get a project working in your backyard.
Second, if you have a monument in your area, your project is to ensure the legacy that Woody helped create by working to recognize these families. Become part of the project. Become part of the process to bring people back to that monument, lest we never forget these Gold Star families.
As we celebrate the life and legacy of Woody Williams and all our veterans of World War II this evening and tomorrow, let us all do our best to continue Woody's mission.
May God rest the soul of our dear friend, our leader, our national hero, Woody Williams.
I yield the floor to my colleague Senator Capito.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Smith). The Senator from West Virginia.
Mrs. CAPITO. Madam President, I thank Senator Manchin for such a great tribute to our good friend Woody Williams and his family, to his generation, and to his love of our country and the love of freedom. Thank you for the leadership that you showed to make sure that tomorrow could happen.
I know we worked on this together, but this is not an easy lift, to lie in honor, as you know, in the U.S. Capitol. But to me, it is so symbolic of a generation, and I have encouraged everybody I have seen to please come and pay their respects to Woody or to that ``greatest generation'' that Woody symbolizes in his passing.
I also want to thank the family. I can't see them from where I sit over here. I am right underneath you guys. Woody has two daughters, Travie and Tracy, and five grandsons and three great grandchildren, one of which is a great granddaughter. And I have had the pleasure of spending time with them over the last several days.
So I rise today to honor and celebrate the legacy of an American hero and proud son of West Virginia. He was always a proud son of West Virginia. On June 29, Hershel ``Woody'' Williams, the last remaining Medal of Honor recipient from World War II, passed away at the grand age of 98, and, tomorrow, rightfully, he will become just the seventh American and the first West Virginian to lie in honor in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. It is a well-deserved recognition for a man from humble beginnings.
Woody was the youngest of 11 children, and I am going to tell one of my favorite encounters that I had with Woody.
He traveled everywhere. We would come on planes, and Woody would be on the plane coming to DC, and you would ask him: Where is he going?
Oh, he is going to San Francisco or he is going to Seattle to do something for Gold Star families or to flip the coin in the Super Bowl. He had more energy than all of us put together.
But he told me a lot of stories about his early life when I sat on the plane with him. And he did tell me that, during World War II, when he was very anxious to sign up--as so many of them were at those young ages of 18, 19 and 20--he had a problem because he didn't really have a birth certificate.
He was born in Quiet Dell, WV, which is a little spot on the road, on a farm. But he told me that his mother had a really good friend, and his mother's really good friend would come over and help her deliver her 11 children, and then Woody's mother would go over and help her friend deliver her 7 or 8 children, or however many she had. So there was no official documentation.
I think he told me in the end--I have to make sure that I am telling this right to Tracy. He told me, in the end, that they had to drag his mother's friend down to the bureau in the county, when he wanted to sign up to join, to make sure that he was actually as old as he said he was.
So being the youngest of 11, he made a lot of sacrifices for his family. But his acts of heroism would eventually help the United States capture the pivotal island of Iwo Jima, a world away from that dairy farm in Quiet Dell, WV.
Many Americans recognize the iconic image of our marines raising the American flag atop Mount Suribachi. It emotes an enormous sense of pride for all of us of patriotism, of triumph. On that same day that the iconic photo was taken, February 23, 1945, a young Marine corporal by the name of Hershel ``Woody'' Williams was on that same island risking his life for our freedom.
That day was under constant fire, and every time I heard him tell the story, he mentioned the folks that had his back. And some of them didn't make it.
Woody, who was a member of the 21st Marines, 3rd Marine Division, alone stormed multiple enemy pillboxes with limited cover, neutralizing one after another, saving countless American lives behind him.
He went on to fight throughout the entire 5 week campaign on Iwo Jima until our forces finally took the Japanese stronghold, marking a key turning point for the Allied cause. His actions that day and throughout the war are the reason why, when West Virginians think of the
``greatest generation,'' we think of Woody Williams.
But what would set Woody apart, I think, more than those acts of valor on the battlefield, was what he did after that, how he carried himself in the more than 75 years since the Second World War.
Through the Hershel ``Woody'' Williams Foundation he advocated for Gold Star families. I was able to attend a couple of the openings of the memorials with him, and it was quite moving. He worked to ensure that the memories of loved ones lost would go on forever.
Today, Woody and his foundation have installed 104 Gold Star Family Memorial Monuments across this country, with about 70 additional monuments underway in every State. Through public appearances and his seemingly unending energy and passion, Woody shared his story with the world.
And he was quite the speaker. I think Senator Manchin would agree with me: That guy could give a speech. It was always very captivating whenever Woody was on the program. His mission was to inspire those--
especially younger--Americans, to answer the same call to service that he did as a teenage boy.
As he said years later, ``the people need to remember, if we ever lose our freedom, we will never be able to regain it.'' He believed that to every core of his body. There is no doubt in my mind that because of Woody, there are more people who answered the call and chose to serve the United States in some way, shape, or form--what an incredible legacy to leave.
He also never forgot his fellow veterans, serving as a veterans' service rep for 33 years at the VA, and I am proud that legacy of care lives on forever in the Hershel ``Woody'' Williams VA Medical Center outside Huntington, WV. As a matter of fact, Senator Manchin told me that was one of Woody's requests: that we need another exit for that hospital.
Joe, could you arrange that?
But Woody did all this with the same trademark humility that we came to know and love about him. For instance, several years after President Truman awarded him the Medal of Honor, Woody says he remembers asking himself in that moment: ``Why was I selected to receive our Nation's highest award when marines right beside me didn't make it home?''
And that just tells you everything you need to know. That shows you the kind of man that Woody Williams was--always for putting his country and comrades first and never concerned with who got the credit.
I count it among one of my life's lessons to have had that airline flight in close contact with him, but also through the years seeing him that I was able to learn from him and laugh with him.
I asked him: Why the Marines? Why not the Army?
Well, he said he was walking down the street--this was before he joined--and he saw a guy walking down the street, and, man, did he look great in that uniform. He said: That is what I want to be. I want to be a marine.
But one of his family members told me at the funeral over in West Virginia, several days ago, that you need to add on there that he thought it would attract more women at the same time. So he was thinking ahead. He was thinking ahead, and I have to agree with him: That Marine uniform is something quite special, and so are the Marines.
The last thing I would say, on a personal note, is that the many times that I saw Woody, being born in 1923, was a reflection of not just him. In his eyes and in the way he carried himself, I saw that whole ``greatest generation''--from my dad, who was also born in 1923, who served in World War II, who left this country for a cause greater than themselves, who believed in protecting our freedoms, who went and fought for people they had never met, known, or seen. And when you think about it in the context of where we are today, you think how special that was for our Nation, for that ``greatest generation.''
So when I say good-bye to Woody tomorrow, when we have the ceremony tomorrow, we are saying good-bye and thank you to that ``greatest generation'' that my dad was a part of. It has a lot of nostalgia and remembrance in all of our hearts and admiration for their passion and love for our country.
So, tomorrow, as we honor a great man and tell his story, Woody will still be doing what he has always done, and that is inspire us. So here is to a well-lived life and a country well-served, even long after he wore the Marine uniform he loved so dearly. Hoorah. Woody, rest peacefully, and thank you.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from West Virginia.
Mr. MANCHIN. Madam President, I know that both of us want to thank Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and the ranking member of the Republican Party, Mitch McConnell, and all the people who were so instrumental in making this happen.
There have only been 35 people lying in state in this Capitol--35 out of millions and millions and millions. And it is a tremendous tribute for us, coming from our wonderful, patriotic, beautiful State of West Virginia, to have the ``greatest generation'' being represented.
And as we have said, this is not him; it is for everybody and, I hope, for all the families and anybody who had anybody who served.
Shelley's dad was wounded in World War II and received a Purple Heart. He became our Governor three times and was a friend of mine. And my father and all of my family served in World War II.
But to have so many people, and Woody is doing that for them. Tomorrow is for every person who has sacrificed and given their all and the families who have sacrificed also.
So we want to thank them for making that happen. It was a great tribute and a great honor, I know, for the family and all of us. God bless you all and thank you for coming.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island.
Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Madam President, before I turn to other business, let me just say how grateful I am to have had the chance to be here and to hear the West Virginia Senators discuss this distinguished gentleman and to join them in welcoming his family to the U.S. Senate. My father, too, was a World War II marine, and it is a sad thing as the tides of time sweep that generation through its dying years.
SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 168, No. 115
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