They're all gone...America's last WWII Medal of Honor recipient passes away...R.I.P

[titsonritz]

That is it, the greatest of the Greatest Generation is gone forever. Hershel (Woody) Williams, 98, was the last of the 473 American service members who received a Medal of Honor in WWII. Williams received the medal for his heroism on Iwo Jima. R.I.P. Marine.

Woody Williams, America's last World War II Medal of Honor recipient, dies

Hershel W. Williams

[SteyrAUG]

And now the revisionist history can begin in earnest.

[Gabriel556]

A nickel on the grass for this Marine. RIP Sir!

[Harpoon]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hershel_W._Williams
Medal of Honor action...
Williams' next and final campaign was at the Battle of Iwo Jima, where he distinguished himself with actions "above and beyond the call of duty", for which he would be awarded the Medal of Honor. On February 21, 1945, he landed on the beach with the 1st Battalion, 21st Marines. Williams, by then a corporal, distinguished himself two days later when American tanks, trying to open a lane for infantry, encountered a network of reinforced concrete pillboxes. Pinned down by machine gun fire, his company commander asked one of his men to attach a high explosive charge to a pole and, supported by Williams, his flamethrower and several Marine riflemen, shove the improvised weapon into an opening in the enemy's pillbox. As they fought their way to the pillbox, all of the men, except Williams, became casualties. Undeterred, Williams arrived at the first pillbox, shoved the flamethrower nozzle into the pillbox opening and fired the weapon, killing all of the soldiers inside. He then returned five times to his company area, refueled his weapon, and moved forward to destroy the remaining pillboxes.

Covered by only four riflemen, he fought for four hours under terrific enemy small-arms fire and repeatedly returned to his own lines to prepare demolition charges and obtain serviced flame throwers. He returned to the front, frequently to the rear of hostile emplacements, to wipe out one position after another. At one point, a wisp of smoke alerted him to the air vent of a Japanese bunker, and he approached close enough to put the nozzle of his flamethrower through the hole, killing the occupants.

[ABNAK]

I had the honor and privilege to shake that man's hand at the 2016 D-Day re-enactment in Conneaut, PA. RIP sir.

[Backfire]

Those guys had ao.e real stories to tell...

[gaijin]

RIP Sir. End of a Noble era.

[gsd2053]

RIP True American!

[Todd.K]

They are never gone.
We just have to remember them.

https://www.cmohs.org/recipients

[SteyrAUG]

They are never gone.
We just have to remember them.

https://www.cmohs.org/recipients

Everyone should buy their kid this book.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/09...?ie=UTF8&psc=1