Obituaries (1 Viewer)

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Hershel W. "Woody" Williams, the last remaining Medal of Honor recipient from World War II, will lie in honor at the U.S. Capitol, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Sunday.

A date and other details will be announced later, Pelosi and Schumer said in a joint statement.

"Woody Williams embodied the best of America: living a life of duty, honor and courage," Pelosi said. Schumer said: "Woody Williams was an American hero who embodied the best of our country and the greatest generation."

Williams, who died on Wednesday at 98, was a legend in his native West Virginia for his heroics under fire over several crucial hours at the battle for Iwo Jima. As a young Marine corporal, Williams went ahead of his unit in February 1945 and eliminated a series of Japanese machine gun positions. Facing small-arms fire, Williams fought for four hours, repeatedly returning to prepare demolition charges and obtain flamethrowers.

Williams remained in the Marines after the war, serving a total of 20 years, before working for the Veterans Administration for 33 years as a veterans service representative. In 2018, the Huntington VA medical center was renamed in his honor, and the Navy commissioned a mobile base sea vessel in his name in 2020.


 
Goodbye to WWII pilot Dean "Diz" Laird, the only U.S. Navy ace to have air combat victories in both the Pacific and European theaters, flying 138 fighter missions during that war. The recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross (and the 2015 Congressional Gold Medal), Laird also served in the Korean War and the Vietnam War, and was the lead stunt pilot for the 1969 film Tora! Tora! Tora! He retired from the Navy in 1971 as a Commander, and still holds the record for the most arrested landings on a straight-deck aircraft carrier. He died August 10 at 101.

An Ace in the Hole: "Diz" Laird

U.S. Navy Commander Dean “Diz” Laird went from shooting down Japanese airplanes to flying replicas of them over Pearl Harbor
www.historynet.com

The Diz Laird Collection - USS Hornet Museum

uss-hornet.org

Dean S. Laird - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org
 
I just found out that an acquaintance of mine passed away on Christmas day, 2016.
Jack Goad was 95 years young at the time of his passing and some may recall my mentioning him in a few threads regarding D-Day, as he was with the 82nd Airborn.
He was also attached to General Eisenhower's security detail as well as being tasked with standing guard over General Patton during the preperations for his funeral.

He was easy to talk to and one of his recollections about D-Day and the weeks following, was that any German armored vehicle they encountered was assumed to be a Tiger - it's reputation was that great.
He also mentioned that of all the Allied aircraft he observed attacking German positions, the Typhoon and P-47 were the ones that impressed him the most.

It's a shame, that in this age of instant information, we still get left in the dark.

Rest easy, Jack (and you still owe me a beer for fixing your truck's radio!)
 
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