64 communities at this point, in , have said we need to remember and pay tribute and whored to the families sacrificed a loved one in the armed forces. Regardless of how that may have grief and the loss is the same. We have got five state to go. Were going to do it. It is going to happen. One of the things that grieves that in our nations where i am told there is Something Like 1100 kinds of , there isor honors mention oneg one tribute to theng families who sacrificed a loved one. If there is any place in the that there should be honor and ship it to those families, it is our nations capital. With that, i will ask a question. To see a show of hands, if you would be so kind. All of those in the audience who, at some time in our history, going all the way back, up to the current date, that had a relative, regardless of the that sacrificed and lost their life in the armed combat, training accident, plane going down, illness, whatever it may be, if you are one of those who have had that happen, could i see just a show of hands of all of those . Thank you very much. Could the rest of us thank them for their sacrifice . [applause] if i were to make a quick estimate, i would say at least 40. There are so many in the country that dont even realize they are a gold star family. Because they have never been subjected or educated in any way to realize that their relationship to that individual makes them a gold star family. Whether it is a grandma, grandpa, an uncle, an aunt, sister, brother, cousin, it makes no difference. There is that relationship. Once we get these 45, or beyond the 45 number that the communities have done at this point, what we would like to see is that the capitols of our states the ones being done now are primarily communityoriented. Because somebody in that community took on the role, formed a community, raised the funds, got the monument erected, but it didnt affect the rest of the state. But if one of these tributes is placed on the Capitol Grounds of every state, then it represents everyone in that state. So far, louisiana, arkansas, have already done that. Kentucky is in the form of doing theirs. Ohio is in the form of doing theirs. West virginia is going to do theirs in the spring. Already, we are just waiting for the whether to change, to get better so that we could have people come and take part in the ceremony. But the thing is going to be unusual about West Virginia, you know, our slogan is, mountaineers are always free. That is our slogan. It is going to make it unusually West Virginia, since we were the first state in the union to make that honor and tribute to the gold star families, ours is going to be two times the size of anybody else. [laughter] if you have any influence in your community or in your state, those people are long overdue to be recognized. So many, many times, once we have dedicated the memorial, a gold star Family Member will just walk up and touch the memorial. And so many of them have said, now, my loved one will never be forgotten. We as a nation owe that to the gold star families of america. Past, present, and unfortunately, those of the future. We must not, we as a society and we as fellow americans must not ever forget we have the privileges that we have. The country that we have. The freedom that we have. Because of those who have gone before us. And gave their life for us. Thank you for permitting me to come and join with you this afternoon, and for the honor that it is to me to be able to stand here and speak with you and share my thoughts. And thank god for america. Our prayer is, and i have no doubt in my faith that god will continue to bless this great country. That each one of you and i call our home. Thank you very much. [applause] thank you. [applause] thank you. Thank you very, very, very much. We will have time for just a few questions. We have probably about 10 minutes for questions. He has got a question for you up there. Mr. Woody, i have two questions. One about iwo and one about guam. The first one about iwo is, how many Navy Cross Recipients were there on iwo . Mr. Williams i have no idea. I have read the number but i dont have it in my mind, so i cannot answer that. I will tell you, sir, that the Marine Corps History Division is out in the lobby and they may well be able to answer that question for you. While you served in the battle of guam with the third marine division, do you recall or do you have any comments about how important the marine dogs were as force multipliers . Mr. Williams i really dont, because i never saw one. [laughter] again, the History Division can answer that question for you. Any other questions . Down here. Have you ever have the opportunity to go back to iwo, and if you were, what were your thoughts on hitting the beach . Mr. Williams thank you. I was there for the 25th anniversary. Once we gave it back president johnson returned it to them i said i would never go back. I thought we should have kept it as a memorial, someplace where people would visit. Of course, they have by the thousands, even though we did give it back. But in 1970, my grandson, ive got a whole slew of them, they talked me into going back because of hearing everything about it but not knowing what was being said. The first time was rather emotional. I thought perhaps i could find the location where my assistant, the best friend i have ever had in my life, sacrificed his life. But when i was there, there was no shrubbery whatsoever. Everything was blown back. When we went back in 1970, it was all green. This stuff that looked almost like West Virginia rhododendron was all covered the ground. I couldnt tell anything. So that was disappointing. But i am glad i went. And i am going again. In march, we are going back again. Sir, as you pulled out of iwo jima, and you had time to more or less wind down, did they prepare you for another invasion . Mr. Williams yes. When we got back to guam, while we were gone, we had a group called the pioneers. They were actually engineers, i guess, or at least trained in engineering. While we were gone, they had erected some false fronted buildings. It might have just the front with a window at night, propped up by 2x4s or 2x6s or something. Or it might have two windows and a door or something. And they had taken bulldozers and made what would normally be a street. And they began teaching us how to fight into a city rather than into a jungle. How do you go down a street in formation compared to what we were doing, jungle fighting . And how to approach a house. How to go through a window. They began teaching us that kind of stuff. So we, dumb marines fought, well, we are going to tokyo. That is where we are going. Is that is all we knew. You hear tokyo rose talk about us and about what was happening in the marine corps. So as far as we were concerned, tokyo was the only place in japan and that is where we were going. But we were scheduled to go on december 3, 1945, my division and another division were scheduled to go to kyushu and take the island. We were to take the southern part of it, and the army coming from europe was to take the northern part of it. So we were scheduled for spring fighting. Any further questions . Right here. A comment first. Medal of honor winner john basilman was killed on iwo and he got the navy cross posthumously. From then on, the men of honor were to go back to combat. They didnt want to lose them. With one exception, another one went back to vietnam after he got them of honor. The question i have for you, how many medal of honor winners from world war ii are still alive, do you know . Mr. Williams yes, me and one other. Charles coolidge from nashville, 98. He has been in really bad health for the last, probably 10 years. But he is still going. He is opening a medal of honor museum in the nashville area. In fact, he wanted me to come down and join him. I would like to do that but i am headed someplace else. By charles and i was the only two remaining. Not to insult you or embarrass you in any way, we prefer that you call us recipients rather than winners. I didnt have any competition out there [laughter] boy i would have loved to have had four other guys out there. [applause] [laughter] mr. Williams any other questions . Just a comment. My father, jack mckay was in the first and then the fifth marine divisions. He was wounded. He had three purple hearts. Two of them he got in iwo. Sorry that i am crying. He was also a demolitions expert. He was on the cover of life magazine. It is a famous picture called sticks and bones. He is the third one in. So if any of you get to see it but thank you for your service. My dad never talked about it. He had three daughters. The only time he did was when my nephew graduated from Marine Corps Training and my dad told him about his experiences. As a daughter, what you went through was terrific. Thank you for that. [applause] mr. Williams thank you. Over here. Mr. Williams anybody else . This lady has a question. Mr. Williams ok. So, i came with several people, and they werent all able to get a seat. We all came from the fairfax officer selection station. I am wondering, you know, people like you come before us as new people wanting to join the marine corps, what do you want us to know . Or what would you pass on . There is probably a lot well, there is much we dont know. You and other recipients and pretty much everyone else in this room who came before us, i think it is big shoes to fill. What would you pass on to those of us who have not even gotten in the door yet . Mr. Williams you mean who didnt get to attend this meeting . Who hasnt even earned to the right to be a marine yet. What would you pass on . Marines who have yet to be marines, who have yet to earn the title. What would you tell them . Mr. Williams well, i guess i am prejudiced. The army, navy, and air force, youll have to excuse the fact that i am prejudiced. [laughter] [laughing] mr. Williams if you want to be the best, be a marine. [applause] [crowd chanting hooah ] mr. Williams every branch of service has its purpose. I could not walk on water. So i could never have gotten overseas. I had to depend on those navy guys for two things, one was to take me on a ship and bring me over there, and the other was to dance with me. [laughter] you did a good job to answer, woody [laughter] you did a good job dancing. You got steak and eggs twice. Any other questions . Stand up and shout out. I dont think we can get the microphone to you. I dont need a mic, i can shout, i am a marine [laughter] when you out to do what youre going to do, did you think about it at all beforehand . Mr. Williams i did nothing about it beforehand, it was a job from which i had been trained. That was my job. I didnt question the fact that that was my job. Whatever it took, fulfilled the duties. Yes, sir. I think we have time for one more question. Yes, maam. I need you to be loud. Combat marines, hoo ah [laughter] [applause] he was able to meet Barney Barnum and have his picture taken for semper fi magazine. Would you honor my dog, rusty who was a surgeon in the Marine Corps League . Trained as a service hospital. Would you have your picture taken with her, sir . Mr. Williams does he bite . [laughter] if he bites, no. If he does not bite, yes. Only the navy. [laughter] mr. Williams oh, ok. Then ill do it. [laughter] let me close with the story. You know, Law Enforcement people, i dont know any members of the Law Enforcement world, that they are some of my very favorite people. We have these individuals in Law Enforcement put on a uniform and go out in the world that day, never knowing what is really going to happen. They cant make a plan for it. They dont know. And yet they go out and put their life on the line. Many of them are sacrificing that life. They are doing it not for themselves. Some of the Law Enforcement people are the lowest paid servers that we have. They are not doing it because of money, they are doing it because they are committed to protect. I admire those people. I really do. That they can do that, day after day after day and the families do not know whether he is going to get home that evening or not. [applause] so we need to support our Law Enforcement people. [applause] so with that, i will tell you my favorite Law Enforcement people. A young 18yearold wanted to be a Law Enforcement guy. When he got to be 18, he was accepted in the West Virginia academy to become a state trooper. Because of his desire and commitment, he graduated first in his class. As a reward for his graduation, the state police were getting a couple of new cruisers. Because their old cruisers had 265,000 or 270,000 miles on them. So they got two or three new cruisers. He got one because he graduated first place. But along with that, they gave him a dirty duty assignment. They assigned him evening shift, during the night. Where he has to work during the night. And they put him way out in the country where there were four stop signs. No stoplights, just four stop signs. People were just going to the stoplights, they paid no attention to them. There was nobody to arrest them. They said we want you to go out there and sit and catch people running the stop signs. So he went out and parked his cruiser and he is sitting there in the dark, listening to the radio. Suddenly, this guy in a corvette comes speeding through, exceeding the speed limit and runs the red light. I mean, the stop sign. He debated. Its night. He did not know how many people were in the car. Should he give chase . Can you imagine, your first night on duty, never had this experience before, and now you are going to have to chase this guy down. So, he finally said to himself, i took an oath. So he took after him, he put lights on, sirens, took after him. He chased him for a few miles before he stopped. Finally he stopped, and he walked up to the car. The guy rolled his window down. He said, do you know why i stopped you . He said, no. He says, you were exceeding the speed limit and you ran a stop sign. He said, this is my first night on duty. He said, im sure that i will hear all kinds of excuses for why people do what they do. You probably want to tell me an excuse for what you did. But if you can tell me one that i dont think anybody has ever heard before, you know, different, and i will just give you a warning, not a ticket. So the guys sat there scratching his head for a little while and said, well, not two months ago, one of your buddies ran off with my wife. When i saw your lights and your siren, i thought he was trying to bring her back. [laughter] [applause] if you would all just keep your seats while we get woody out of the theater, we will do that. Are we going to take a picture . Yeah, we will do that. One picture. Bring the dog over, lets get that picture real quick. The rest of you, please keep your seats. Mr. Williams big dog [laughter] mr. Williams what is his name . Sergeant rusty banks. Mr. Williams sergeant . [laughter] youre welcome. Ok, sergeant. Ok. Again, once woody gets this picture, we need to get him out so he can go sit down for a few minutes. We have all been able to sit. He has been up for a long time. You will keep your seats while we get him upstairs so he can take a rest and then exit the theater after that . [chatter] mr. Williams sergeant needs to go on a diet. [laughter] [applause] each weekend, we explore our nations past. It is all available ondemand track of spread throughout the u. S. And the world with interactive maps. Watch ondemand anytime unfiltered at cspan. Org coronavirus. Why do you all know who is he is and raise your hand if you ever heard of the jean harris murder trial. Where we will find the true meaning of the revolution was in this transformation that took place in the minds of the american people. We will talk about both sides of the story. Tools and techniques of slaveowner power and the tools and techniques of power practiced by enslaved people. Watch history professors lead discussions on topics from the American Revolution to saturday on American History tv. Lectures in history is available as a podcast. And world war ii veteran shares stories of his experience at the european theater. He would rejoin his division after recovering and taking part in the battle of the bulge. At the end ofd the war. The National WorldWar Ii Museum conducted the interview in 2012 for its oral history collection