Tag: World War II

February 23, 1945: Woody Williams Risks Life to Neutralize Japanese in WWII

On February 23, 1945, Marine Corporal Herschel “Woody” Williams perilously risked his life to neutralize Japanese positions during World II.

At the time, American tanks were struggling to open a lane for infantry forces on Iwo Jima. With only four riflemen covering his movements, Williams repeatedly prepared demolition charges and rushed enemy lines.

Armed with a flamethrower, he destroyed seven Japanese pillboxes, one by one, over a four-hour period. This act of individual heroism earned Williams the Medal of Honor. Eleven days later, he was wounded by shrapnel and earned a Purple Heart.

The Fairmont native had grown up in Harrison County. He almost didn’t make it into the military. At the beginning of World War II, he’d tried to enlist in the Marines. But, at five feet six inches, he was considered too short to serve. He finally enlisted in May 1943 after the military changed its height requirement.

After the war, Woody Williams returned to West Virginia, where he served in the Marine Corps Reserve, worked for the Veterans Administration, and ran a boarding and training barn for horses in Cabell County.

February 8, 1892: Cartoonist Irvin Dugan Born

Cartoonist Irvin Dugan was born in Huntington on February 8, 1892. He worked as a Huntington newspaper artist from 1927 until his retirement in 1957.

For many years, his “Adam Goodfellow” cartoon character was featured on the editorial pages of the Herald-Dispatch and the Sunday Herald-Advertiser.

Adam was a wrinkled little man with a handlebar mustache and corncob pipe. Dugan created him during World War II to promote the sale of war bonds. In his first appearance, Adam was shown with a dinner pail under his arm, a newly purchased war bond in hand, and a caption that read, “Here’s mine. Where’s yours?” The U.S. Treasury Department distributed the cartoon nationwide, and it was widely reprinted. Even after the war, Adam kept crusading for various causes.

Many well-known individuals, including coal mine labor leader John L. Lewis and Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry Truman wrote Dugan asking for originals of his cartoons.

In 1974, Dugan donated a collection of such letters and 500 original drawings of Adam to Marshall University. After retiring, Irvin Dugan moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where he died in 1982 at age 90.

Ken Hechler Remembered for His Work in Mine Safety

Longtime West Virginia Congressman, Secretary of State, and World War II veteran, Ken Hechler has died at the age of 102. He was known nationwide for his work in improving coal mine health and safety, among many other accomplishments.

Ken Hechler served in Congress from 1959 to 1977 and played a key role in the passage of the federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act, comprehensive legislation that established federal ventilation requirements for underground mines.

Hechler also fought to limit the environmental effects of strip mining and preserve the New River.

Hechler was a combat historian during World War II and earned the bronze star and five battle stars. He was a professor at Marshall University, special assistant to President Harry Truman, and was the only congressman to march with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, Alabama, in support of voting equality.

West Virginia Public Broadcasting produced a documentary in 2008 on Hechler’s life. That documentary is available here.

October 23, 1943: German POWs Arrive at Camp Ashford

  German prisoners of war were moved into Camp Ashford at White Sulphur Springs. This was one of two POW camps in West Virginia during World War II. The other was at Camp Dawson in Preston County. Camp Ashford was built in the summer of 1942 by Italian POWs, who stayed at the camp until the German prisoners arrived the following year.

W.Va. Group to Start 'Rosie The Riveter' Movement

A West Virginia group dedicated to honoring the working women of World War II wants to start a national movement.
 
     “Thanks! Plain and Simple” executive director Ann Montague says a public meeting will be held Friday afternoon at Huntington’s Pullman Plaza Hotel.
 
     Millions of women worked at defense plants to supply the war effort. Their real lives were behind the cultural icon known as Rosie the Riveter.
 
     Montague’s group wants to launch the national movement on Memorial Day, May 26. The group’s past work includes the naming of a building in Huntington and a permanent display at the Pullman Plaza Hotel.
 
     Montague says the goal is to tell the stories about living Rosies and educate the public about their work. She says Rosies are typically 90 years old.
 

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