[Mil.com] Hershel "Woody" Williams did not even know something called the "Medal of Honor" existed when the Quiet Dell, West Virginia, native learned he would receive the nation's highest and most prestigious personal military decoration.In fact, at the time, he thought the best part about getting the medal was being sent home sooner than expected after fighting in the Pacific Ocean Theater during World War II.
"In September (1945), after the war was over in August, I was called to my division general's tent for him to tell me that I was being sent back to the states," said Williams, one of two Medal of Honor recipients from WWII still living .
"The whole division, they were not scheduled to come back to the states yet, but I was sent back to Washington to receive it. And if he used the terms or the words 'Medal of Honor' it didn't mean anything to me because I had never heard of it. I didn't know what he was talking about. ... The thing that impressed me and the thing that I remember most of course is -- I had been there for two years now -- I got to go home. He could have said anything else in the world and I don't think it would have overshadowed that."
Williams, a corporal with the 21st Marine Regiment, earned the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Battle of Iwo Jima, which occurred 75 years ago from Feb. 19 through March 26, 1945.
On Feb. 23, Williams -- armed with a flamethrower and with only four riflemen covering him -- destroyed seven Japanese pillboxes, one by one, over a four-hour period. His medal-earning action took place on the same day as the iconic Iwo Jima flag raising, an event captured by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal.
Williams did not witness the flag actually being raised, but did see it later flying high atop Mount Suribachi, providing a "morale booster."