Actions of hometown hero finally come to light

Not even William Williams’ family knew what a military hero he was until he lost his life in a motorcycle accident on the interstate last August.
The wife of a comrade contacted them upon hearing of his death and said because of William, her husband was still alive.
The comrade’s name is Command Sergeant Major Dave Betz, and he served as a pallbearer at William’s funeral.
Betz penned these words in memory of his friend:
“When one thinks of Wil Williams, one word comes to mind.  Warrior!
”Wil Williams saved my life, Nov. 25, 2001 in Afghanistan during the four-day battle of the famed Qala Janghi prison uprising.  The battle was one of the most intense combat operations I had ever experienced.
In the end, over 300 Taliban and Al Qaeda were killed, CIA operative Mike Spann was missing in action-later discovered killed in action, the American Taliban John Walker Lind had been captured, and myself and five other Green Berets lay seriously wounded.
After being wounded on day two of the battle, I crawled to safety then collapsed, left for dead.  Wil refused to leave the battlefield until he found me. He discovered me unconscious among the dead and wounded.  He revived me and personally carried me from danger while under enemy fire.
Wil was the type of man that lived the Special Forces and Rangers ethos: “I will never leave a fallen comrade.”  He was a quiet professional who asked for little, but gave a lot.
He never sought attention, or glory for the overt and covert operations he conducted during his distinguished 20 year career in Special Forces…Kentucky has lost a great son.  Perhaps one day the veil can be pulled back on Wil’s military accomplishments in Special Forces and he can receive the recognition that he truly deserves.”
William’s mother, Myra Finney, says her oldest son was careful not to talk about what he was doing in the Middle East, because he knew he could endanger the lives of loved ones if he said too much.
William was deployed most of his 20-year military career, and most of the time his family had no idea where he was.   Myra said she typically only saw him a couple of times a year.
She says her kids call her “the queen of denial,” but it was hard not to worry.
“I tried to keep busy and didn’t discuss it a lot,” said Myra.
As a member of Special Forces, William also served in Haiti with “Operation Uphold Democracy,” and he served in Kenya where he helped train troops.  He spent a year at the Pakistan Embassy.
William received a bronze star for his efforts in Afghanistan.  In Kandahar, three Special Forces were killed in a friendly fire incident and he was assigned to escort them back to the States.
William came through three wars unscathed, but he was nearly killed in a motorcycle accident five years ago when a young driver turned in front of him.
On August 30 of this year, a motorcycle accident on the interstate did claim his life.  William’s body was brought home to rest in Estill County.
Because he was gone so much, Myra says she still expects him to come walking in the door someday.
“It seems like he’s gone on another mission,” she said.
However, she takes comfort in knowing that her son was a hero.  Her daughter Leah overheard a member of the Honor Guard say at the funeral, “Today you are in the presence of a hero, and don’t you ever forget it.”
“It’s an amazing feeling to know that people look at your child this way,” she said,  “and it makes me very proud.”
Leah’s admiration for her big brother influenced her own decision to join the military.
At one time, Leah says, she wanted to become the first woman Ranger, but as she grew “older and wiser,” she decided to join the Air Force in Oct. 1988.
Despite what people automatically assume, Leah’s job was on the ground.  She was part of the security forces that guarded airplanes and the base, or “the infantry of the Air Force.”
Both Leah and William were involved in Desert Storm.  Leah was a part of it from “beginning to end,” because her permanent duty station was in Turkey.
She says William was deployed in Desert Storm from Sept. 1990 to April 1991 as a member of the Special Forces who trained Kuwaiti soldiers.
Myra said it was no big surprise to her when her oldest son joined the military, because when he was a little boy, “all he wanted to play was G.I. Joe.”
When Leah joined, it was a little more unexpected, but Leah says she used to talk about it when she was a kid.  She always wanted to play cowboys and Indians with her brothers when they were growing up.
Military recruiters tried to recruit their younger brother Chris when they found out that he had siblings in the service, but Myra says Chris had no inclination to join.
Leah spent a lot of time in the Middle East.  She was deployed to Oman during Operation Enduring Freedom in 20002 when her daughter Kate was in the fifth grade.
She was sent to the United Arab Emirates in 2003, which she described as “hell on earth, because it felt like it.”
She said it was 123 humid degrees in the shade there at times.
Since her last deployment in Feb. 2004, Leah became a part of Joint Support Operation Army/Air, where part of her job was marijuana eradication.   She also worked as an outreach coordinator for substance abuse education and helped run the state drug-testing program, while continuing to do “regular unit stuff” in Louisville with the 123rd unit of security forces of the AirLift Wing.  She says that is the Air Force version of military police.
Currently, Leah is under medical review for retirement.
Leah loved her time in the military, and the people she worked with.  Although she never saw battle, she says they all knew that the occasion could happen that they would have to rely on one another for protection.
Leah says that people sometimes have the wrong idea about the military.
“Sometimes they think we are bloodthirsty,” she said, “but I don’t think that hardly anyone goes into it because they want to kill.”
Leah is proud of her service, but she says most members of the military just feel like they are doing their job.  She admits she is sometimes a little embarrassed when people express appreciation.
“I haven’t suffered the physical, mental or emotional pain that some have,” she said.
She does appreciate the way her hometown supports the military.  She says she was “sleeping in a barracks, working 14 hours a day,” when she received lots of mail and care packages from home, some from folks she hardly knew.
William and Leah came by their interest in the military honest.  Their father, Melvin Williams, was a member of the National Guard in Ravenna for almost 17 years.
Melvin says he was a little shocked when his oldest son said he was going into the Airborne Rangers.
The Rangers are some of the military’s toughest.   They are only allowed to serve as Rangers for four years because the work is so demanding.
He says the Army wanted William to retire after about three years, but he agreed to do that on the condition that he be allowed to go straight into Special Forces.  The Army allowed him to train in Fort Drum, NY, in a mountain infantry unit until those four years were up.
Melvin explained that the Airborne Rangers and the United States Army Special Forces, commonly called Green Berets, undergo the same grueling training, but the Rangers go into combat roles, while the Special Forces take on instructor roles and unconventional warfare missions.  However, they are still often called into combat during war times, as William was.
As a member of the Special Forces, Melvin said, an elite number of them go into mountain, desert or tropical training.  William was trained in the mountains for about 20 days when he was dropped with only a small amount of food and required to live off the land.  Melvin said his son came out of that experience 35 pounds lighter.
“It’s hard to explain their loyalty to their country,” said Melvin.  “He didn’t tell me much.  That was instilled in them not to talk about what they do.”
Although William was not at liberty to talk about his military life to his family, he did talk about his family to close friend Raymond “Van” Vandall, who served in the Army’s 5th Special Forces Group with him for 14 years.
Van also wrote a letter in memory of his friend and described William’s love of his family and his sons.
Jason is 31 and twins Mason and Jacob are five.
An excerpt of the letter reads:  “All three of his sons were his pride and joy …he truly loved all three of his boys and they were always with him no matter where we were… he had them on his mind and in his heart.”