Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Williams Awarded Korean Service Medal

James W. (Willie) Williams was officially presented with a Korean War Service medal Sunday, Jan. 14.

The Prescott native served with the 7th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army in Korea for 15 months.

He was part of the Inchon Invasion, which took place Sept. 15, 1950.

He was wounded on Dec. 3, 1951, after the troop transport he was in ran over a land mine and was blown 50 feet over an embankment.

Already injured, Cpl. Williams could only watch as an enemy soldier, either North Korean or Chinese, walked up and shot him four times.

"I saw the first two," Williams said, "and then don't remember anything."

He had been shot four times, three in the leg and once in the head. He was medi-vacked out of the country and hasn't been back since.

"I'd like to go back," he said, "and see how it's progressed."

Williams had one regret from his time in Korea. "Out of my original squad, there were only three survivors." The squad began with 12 men.

During his tour in Korea, Williams was granted rest and recreation (R&R) leave twice, spending the time off in Tokyo, Japan.

He was also offered a battlefield commission while there, but turned it down.

He recalled the weather in Korea, saying it was bitterly cold in the winter; so bad several soldiers froze to death. The summers Williams compared to Arkansas as being extremely hot, with the difference being in Korea the humidity could be seen.

In all, he spent 23 years in the service, doing two tours of Viet Nam after Korea.

In Nam, Williams was based in Danang and spent most of his time in the northern highlands of the country.

While in Nam, Williams was with the 5th Special Forces, a member of the green beret, in other words.

He was a light weapons specialist in his squad, and was wounded twice while there.

Williams was shot in the shoulder once, and blown into a wall on another occasion. Being blown into the wall damaged a knee.

In all, he has three purple hearts to go with his Korean War Service medal.

The difference between Korea and Viet Nam, he said, was in Korea there was a definite battle line  the 38th parallel  while Nam was nothing but guerilla warfare.

"We could've won Nam if the politicians had left us alone," he said.

The teams in Nam, he said, were made up of 12 men and two officers. All of the men were checked out in one another's specialty.

Williams refused to talk about the "gory details" but said he had been in many firefights in both wars.

He spent a total of 6 = years as a green beret, and officially retired from the service Jan. 1, 1970.

Williams didn't learn about the availability of the Korean Service medal until he saw a notice of it in the VA magazine.

He wrote in, got the application and was awarded one in a special ceremony at Our Lady of Good Hope Catholic Church in Hope, Jan. 14.

Williams has six children, four daughters and two sons.

He was also an officer with the Prescott Police Department for 8 = years, and worked with the Prescott Housing Authority for 16 years.