The heroic military veterans we lost in 2022
By Staff
Dec 29, 2022
World War II veteran Lawrence Brooks is one of many storied service members who passed in 2022. (Gerald Herbert/AP)
They have been called America’s “Greatest Generation,” applauded for their contributions during World War II and beyond. In 2022, the United States bid farewell to the last surviving World War II Medal of Honor recipient, one of the last surviving Tuskegee Airmen and one of the last surviving Code Talkers. They are just a few of the many men and women who valiantly served the U.S. and died this year.
Below is a list of notable veterans, compiled by Military Times editors, who died during the calendar year.
Hershel “Woody” Williams
Hershel "Woody" Williams, Marine survivor from the battle of Iwo Jima and the last living Medal of Honor recipient for his actions during the battle, poses for a photo during the Iwo Jima Battle Survivors and Family Association 70th anniversary reunion at Wichita Falls, Texas, February 14, 2015.
Marine veteran Hershel “Woody” Williams was the last surviving World War II Medal of Honor recipient.
Williams enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1943. Two years later, he landed on Iwo Jima with the 21st Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division. With the help of four other Marines, Williams engaged several Japanese pillboxes with his flamethrower during a fight that lasted more than four hours.
Williams fought the remainder of the Iwo Jima campaign before he was wounded on March 6, 1945, and removed from the battle. President Harry S. Truman awarded Williams the Medal of Honor in October 1945.
Williams died in June at the Huntington, West Virginia, Veterans Affairs hospital named in his honor. He was 98 years old.
https://www.militarytimes.com/veterans/2022/12/29/the-heroic-military-veterans-we-lost-in-2022/
