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Floor Speech

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Mrs. CAPITO. Madam President, I thank Senator Manchin for such a great tribute to our good friend Woody Williams and his family, to his generation, and to his love of our country and the love of freedom. Thank you for the leadership that you showed to make sure that tomorrow could happen.

I know we worked on this together, but this is not an easy lift, to lie in honor, as you know, in the U.S. Capitol. But to me, it is so symbolic of a generation, and I have encouraged everybody I have seen to please come and pay their respects to Woody or to that ``greatest generation'' that Woody symbolizes in his passing.

I also want to thank the family. I can't see them from where I sit over here. I am right underneath you guys. Woody has two daughters, Travie and Tracy, and five grandsons and three great grandchildren, one of which is a great granddaughter. And I have had the pleasure of spending time with them over the last several days.

So I rise today to honor and celebrate the legacy of an American hero and proud son of West Virginia. He was always a proud son of West Virginia. On June 29, Hershel ``Woody'' Williams, the last remaining Medal of Honor recipient from World War II, passed away at the grand age of 98, and, tomorrow, rightfully, he will become just the seventh American and the first West Virginian to lie in honor in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. It is a well-deserved recognition for a man from humble beginnings.

Woody was the youngest of 11 children, and I am going to tell one of my favorite encounters that I had with Woody.

He traveled everywhere. We would come on planes, and Woody would be on the plane coming to DC, and you would ask him: Where is he going?

Oh, he is going to San Francisco or he is going to Seattle to do something for Gold Star families or to flip the coin in the Super Bowl. He had more energy than all of us put together.

But he told me a lot of stories about his early life when I sat on the plane with him. And he did tell me that, during World War II, when he was very anxious to sign up--as so many of them were at those young ages of 18, 19 and 20--he had a problem because he didn't really have a birth certificate.

He was born in Quiet Dell, WV, which is a little spot on the road, on a farm. But he told me that his mother had a really good friend, and his mother's really good friend would come over and help her deliver her 11 children, and then Woody's mother would go over and help her friend deliver her 7 or 8 children, or however many she had. So there was no official documentation.

I think he told me in the end--I have to make sure that I am telling this right to Tracy. He told me, in the end, that they had to drag his mother's friend down to the bureau in the county, when he wanted to sign up to join, to make sure that he was actually as old as he said he was.

So being the youngest of 11, he made a lot of sacrifices for his family. But his acts of heroism would eventually help the United States capture the pivotal island of Iwo Jima, a world away from that dairy farm in Quiet Dell, WV.

Many Americans recognize the iconic image of our marines raising the American flag atop Mount Suribachi. It emotes an enormous sense of pride for all of us of patriotism, of triumph. On that same day that the iconic photo was taken, February 23, 1945, a young Marine corporal by the name of Hershel ``Woody'' Williams was on that same island risking his life for our freedom.

That day was under constant fire, and every time I heard him tell the story, he mentioned the folks that had his back. And some of them didn't make it.

Woody, who was a member of the 21st Marines, 3rd Marine Division, alone stormed multiple enemy pillboxes with limited cover, neutralizing one after another, saving countless American lives behind him.

He went on to fight throughout the entire 5 week campaign on Iwo Jima until our forces finally took the Japanese stronghold, marking a key turning point for the Allied cause. His actions that day and throughout the war are the reason why, when West Virginians think of the ``greatest generation,'' we think of Woody Williams.

But what would set Woody apart, I think, more than those acts of valor on the battlefield, was what he did after that, how he carried himself in the more than 75 years since the Second World War.

Through the Hershel ``Woody'' Williams Foundation he advocated for Gold Star families. I was able to attend a couple of the openings of the memorials with him, and it was quite moving. He worked to ensure that the memories of loved ones lost would go on forever.

Today, Woody and his foundation have installed 104 Gold Star Family Memorial Monuments across this country, with about 70 additional monuments underway in every State. Through public appearances and his seemingly unending energy and passion, Woody shared his story with the world.

And he was quite the speaker. I think Senator Manchin would agree with me: That guy could give a speech. It was always very captivating whenever Woody was on the program. His mission was to inspire those-- especially younger--Americans, to answer the same call to service that he did as a teenage boy.

As he said years later, ``the people need to remember, if we ever lose our freedom, we will never be able to regain it.'' He believed that to every core of his body. There is no doubt in my mind that because of Woody, there are more people who answered the call and chose to serve the United States in some way, shape, or form--what an incredible legacy to leave.

He also never forgot his fellow veterans, serving as a veterans' service rep for 33 years at the VA, and I am proud that legacy of care lives on forever in the Hershel ``Woody'' Williams VA Medical Center outside Huntington, WV. As a matter of fact, Senator Manchin told me that was one of Woody's requests: that we need another exit for that hospital.

Joe, could you arrange that?

But Woody did all this with the same trademark humility that we came to know and love about him. For instance, several years after President Truman awarded him the Medal of Honor, Woody says he remembers asking himself in that moment: ``Why was I selected to receive our Nation's highest award when marines right beside me didn't make it home?''

And that just tells you everything you need to know. That shows you the kind of man that Woody Williams was--always for putting his country and comrades first and never concerned with who got the credit.

I count it among one of my life's lessons to have had that airline flight in close contact with him, but also through the years seeing him that I was able to learn from him and laugh with him.

I asked him: Why the Marines? Why not the Army?

Well, he said he was walking down the street--this was before he joined--and he saw a guy walking down the street, and, man, did he look great in that uniform. He said: That is what I want to be. I want to be a marine.

But one of his family members told me at the funeral over in West Virginia, several days ago, that you need to add on there that he thought it would attract more women at the same time. So he was thinking ahead. He was thinking ahead, and I have to agree with him: That Marine uniform is something quite special, and so are the Marines.

The last thing I would say, on a personal note, is that the many times that I saw Woody, being born in 1923, was a reflection of not just him. In his eyes and in the way he carried himself, I saw that whole ``greatest generation''--from my dad, who was also born in 1923, who served in World War II, who left this country for a cause greater than themselves, who believed in protecting our freedoms, who went and fought for people they had never met, known, or seen. And when you think about it in the context of where we are today, you think how special that was for our Nation, for that ``greatest generation.''

So when I say good-bye to Woody tomorrow, when we have the ceremony tomorrow, we are saying good-bye and thank you to that ``greatest generation'' that my dad was a part of. It has a lot of nostalgia and remembrance in all of our hearts and admiration for their passion and love for our country.

So, tomorrow, as we honor a great man and tell his story, Woody will still be doing what he has always done, and that is inspire us. So here is to a well-lived life and a country well-served, even long after he wore the Marine uniform he loved so dearly. Hoorah. Woody, rest peacefully, and thank you.

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