The back side of the Gold Star Families Monument is etched with scenes from Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Hershel “Woody” Williams life.
FAIRMONT, W.Va. — Families with loved ones who died overseas will be remembered in Fairmont.
The dedication for the Gold Star Families Memorial Monument was held on Saturday at the Hershel Woody Williams Armed Forces Reserve Center.
Hershel “Woody” Williams, a World War II veteran and West Virginia’s only Medal of Honor recipient, explained the Gold Star Family memorial started as a plan to honor gold star mothers in the District of Columbia, where there were no monuments of that kind. He worked for that cause for 15 years.
After speaking in Parkersburg, Williams was approached by a father who had lost his son. Williams recalled the father telling him “Dads cry, too.”
Since then, Williams and his organization has dedicated their efforts toward having gold star family memorials erected in all 50 states.
The monument put up on Saturday was the third of its kind in West Virginia…