October 28, 2020

West Virginia Delegation Urges President Trump To Designate State Funeral For Last Surviving WWII Medal of Honor Recipient

Charleston, WV – U.S. Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), along with Representatives David McKinley (R-WV), Alex Mooney (R-WV), and Carol Miller (R-WV) today sent a letter to President Donald J. Trump urging him to designate a state funeral for the last surviving World War II Medal of Honor recipient. Last year, the delegation wrote a similar letter to the president.

“We are writing you again to encourage you to designate a single state funeral for the last surviving World War II Medal of Honor recipient, which would not only recognize that one veteran, but all 16 million men and women who put their lives on the line during the war to defend the freedoms that we hold dear,” the delegation wrote.

Read the full letter below or click here.

 

Dear Mr. President:

We are writing you again to encourage you to designate a single state funeral for the last surviving World War II Medal of Honor recipient, which would not only recognize that one veteran, but all 16 million men and women who put their lives on the line during the war to defend the freedoms that we hold dear.

As West Virginia’s congressional delegation, it is an incredible honor to call one of the two remaining recipients, U.S. Marine Corps Corporal Hershel “Woody” Williams, our own. During the Battle of Iwo Jima, Woody Williams valiantly stormed pillboxes with his flamethrower, as the last American demolition sergeant on the beach, clearing the way for his fellow soldiers.

Of the 472 Medal of Honor recipients from WWII, Woody Williams is joined by U.S. Army Technical Sergeant Charles Coolidge of Tennessee as the two still living. Woody Williams has said, “This medal doesn’t belong to me. It belongs to them, because they gave their lives for me, I was just doing a job that I was trained to do.”

We urge you to designate a state funeral for the last surviving Medal of Honor recipient because it would not only recognize these two men, but all who were doing the jobs that they were trained to do. The sacrifices of all who served during World War II have not gone unrecognized, but it is crucial that we as a nation continue to show our immense gratitude for the greatest generation.