Saying Goodbye to a Friend This story is about an amazing hero, friend, father, grandfather and all-around inspiration to all who meet By Kenneth Reige him. This is USAF Veteran about my friend and the passing of WW2’s last Medal of Honor Recipient, Mr. Hershel Woodrow “Woody” Williams. Woody (as he preferred to be called) was born on 2 October 1923 in Quiet Dell, West Virginia and passed on 29
June 2022 in Huntington, West Virginia. Woody was 98, and at the time of his passing was the oldest living Medal of Honor Recipient. After his passing that torch has now been passed to our beloved Hershey Miyamura who will be 97 on 6 October 2022.
I am extremely proud of this picture. This was at the 2017 MOH Convention in Pueblo, CO. Woody had just named me as an “honorary” board member for the Hershel Woody Williams Gold Star Family Foundation. He then presented me with a beautiful medallion to wear.
Here is Woody and Hershey at that event. I apologize for the purple hue here. This is inside an American Airlines Hangar at DFW and no matter what, everyone’s pictures turn out this way.
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August 2022
I first met Woody about 8 years ago through my travels with Hershey. I have talked about Woody for many years to my family and in March 2022 Retha got to meet Woody at the groundbreaking ceremony for the new National Medal of Honor Museum in Dallas.
As I have mentioned before, my family and I have been truly blessed. In 2019 I got to travel with Hershey and Woody to NYC for the 100th Anniversary Veterans Day Parade. Woody had a passion for helping veterans. He served as a VSO (Veterans Service Officer) for the for 33 years. As a matter of fact, Woody lived in New Mexico from 1946 to I believe he told me 1949. He enjoyed
