In addition to the Medal of Honor, he also received a Purple Heart for injuries he sustained in fighting on Iwo Jima. Woody did an amazing job on the battlefield and his legacy is well known. There are two lengthy interviews with him that are both very much worth watching, one, on C-Span in 2006 and the other with the Pritzker Institute in 2008. I have linked them below.
C-Span Interview, 2006
Pritzker Military Museum and Library Interview, 2008
Yesterday, October 20, 2015, the United States Navy announced that Woody Williams will be honored by naming a ship after him. The ship will be an expeditionary sea base. There is no specific date for when the ship would be built or dedicated.
Williams said that he was, "extremely excited and humbled” when he received a call Tuesday morning by U.S. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, who told him the news. “It's almost beyond my imagination ... that the secretary of the Navy — and America as a whole — would think me worthy to receive such an honor,”.
You can read the entire article, from the Charleston Gazette-Mail, where it talks a little more about the honor and Williams' history.
I am very glad that Woody is being honored in this way. I only hope that he is able to stick around long enough to actually see it happen. Thank you Woody, for the incredible service that you have performed, not only to our country, but also to other veterans. Your love for them is obvious and exemplary.
Williams speaking to Iwo Jima vets in 2010
Truman presenting the Medal of Honor
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