CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The former Adjutant General of the West Virginia National Guard had moving memories of the late Woody Williams.
Retired General James Hoyer recalled taking Williams to the Mountaineer Challenge Academy at Camp Dawson in Preston County. At the time, Williams was about 90 years old. and when he spoke to a group of teenagers, he owned the room.
“It was not about the fact he was a Medal of Honor recipient and the courage he showed on the battlefield. When Woody went into the room with those kids, those kids sensed he cared about them and that’s what gave him command of the room,” said General Hoyer on MetroNews Talkline.
Hoyer and Williams became good friends through the years. Most people who met Woody considered him a “good friend.” He was just that kind of man.
“As amazing and significant as Woody’s gallantry and courage was that day at Iwo Jima, it was not he only thing that defined who Woody was,” said Hoyer. “I think probably because of the terrible things he saw that war brings, Woody spent his life helping, taking care of, and advocating for other people.”
Williams spent most of this time advocating for improved healthcare in the V-A system. He worked to recognize Gold Star Families in the United States and to help the rest of understand their pain when a son or daughter is lost in service to the nation in a war.
Since his passing Wednesday, there are countless stories of Woody’s kindness, generosity, and genuine love and compassion for complete strangers. Most of the stories are known only to those who lived them, but it seems like everybody who met Woody had one of those stories.
When returning from the visit to Camp Dawson where he spoke to the Mountaineer Challenge cadets, Hoyer ordered his helicopter pilots to dial up Woody’s native stomping grounds around Quiet Dell in Marion County on the GPS. When they arrived, Hoyer had them fly low and slow to give the aging veteran an opportunity to look around.
“Woody saw a structure from the old homeplace. We were in the back of the Blackhawk and I looked over at him and there was a tear rolling down his face. It told me just how much that place and this state and his family mean to him and meant to him,” said Hoyer.