John Willie Woods Jr. head and shoulders smiling (courtesy of the Woods family). Submitted
On a spectacular spring morning, a large American flag, a much smaller one and faux flowers adorn John Willie Woods Juniorâs gravestone at Toussaint LâOuverture Cemetery in Franklin. More than half a century after his death in Vietnam, Mattie Lee Kinnard surely would be touched that her son is so well remembered.Â
Woods was only 19 when the helicopter he was aboard plunged into the jungle in a fiery explosion, killing him and three of his crewmates on Oct. 30, 1966. He was one of 342 American military deaths that month during the Vietnam War, one ofâ¯6,350 that year, one of 58,220 for the United States in the lengthy conflict.Â