Nation

Last surviving WW2 Medal of Honor recipient Woody Williams dies at 98

Published

1 month ago

July 4, 2022

On this Fourth of July we honor the last surviving Medal of Honor recipient from World War II. Marine veteran Hershel “Woody” Williams died Wednesday at 3:15 a.m. and was 98 years old. Williams died at the Huntington, West Virginia, Veterans Affairs hospital named after him, according to a statement from his foundation.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Sunday that Williams will lie in honor at the U.S. Capitol.

The Marine Corps Times writes about the honorable veteran and his Medal:

Born in 1923 on a dairy farm in Quiet Dell, West Virginia, Williams was the youngest of 11 children, according to the Weirton, West Virginia, Daily Times.

Initially disqualified for being too short, Williams enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1943, according to his biography. The demolition sergeant landed on Iwo Jima on Feb. 21, 1945, with 1st Battalion, 21st Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division.

Two days later, on Feb. 23, 1945, he famously destroyed enemy emplacements with a flamethrower, going forward alone into machinegun fire, covered only by four riflemen.

His citation states, “he fought desperately for 4 hours under terrific enemy small-arms fire and repeatedly returned to his own lines to prepare demolition charges and obtain serviced flamethrowers,” before wiping out one enemy position after another.

On one occasion, he “daringly mounted a pillbox to insert the nozzle of his flamethrower through the air vent,” which killed all enemy occupants and silenced its gun.

Williams received the Medal of Honor from President Harry S. Truman at the White House in October 1945 for “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty.”

God Bless Woody Williams and his family.

America is great because of heroes like him. https://t.co/QxAFMWDMYH

— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) June 30, 2022

Related Topics:Featured medal of honor Military WWII

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Nation

Tolerant Left: Rhodes college Alumni for reproductive rights calls for Justice Coney Barrett’s removal from hall of fame

Published

6 days ago

August 9, 2022

Sara Carter Staff

The tolerant left is calling for Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett to be removed from her alma mater’s hall of fame. An alumni group from Barrett’s former school, Rhodes College, created a petition to have Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett removed from the college’s hall of fame over.

The group’s reasoning stems back to the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

It’s unclear when the alumni group came into existence, but now deem themselves the “Rhodes College Alumni for Reproductive Rights.” The group has pushed college President Jennifer Collins ad the school’s director of community standards to have Barrett’s hall of fame accomplishment withdrawn due to her “public breach of the honor code.”

The letter, written this month, claims Barrett’s testimony during her confirmation hearing in October 2020 conflicted with her vote in Dobbs, which overturned Roe v. Wade and the constitutional right to an abortion.

“We find any claim by Justice Barrett during her nomination hearings that she would consider the potential detrimental effect of overruling precedent on a given individual to be disingenuous and misleading. She’s told us herself that if one stays true to originalism and the text of the Constitution, it is immaterial as to whether an action could result in widespread chaos or trampling on the reliance interests of millions of Americans. Dobbs and the current state of women’s health care post-Roe confirms this,” the signatories wrote in the petition.

Signatories also accuse Barrett of being “one of the biggest current threats to our fundamental rights, the stability of our nation, and our democracy.”

George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley rebuked the group, saying they are relying on “the false claim that Barrett misled the Senate on her views on Roe.”

…The use of clearly false allegations in the name of upholding the honor system does not seem to concern these signatories. Yet, it is Justice Barrett who is accused of “an egregious lack of fidelity with the Rhodes Honor System.”

— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) August 7, 2022

Rhodes College told the Washington Examiner it had no comment on the request.

“We are aware that some alumni are soliciting signatures for a letter regarding Justice Amy Coney Barrett. The letter has not yet been delivered to Rhodes, so we have no comment at this time,” Rhodes College said in a statement.