The last World War II Medal of Honor awarded by the United States Capitol

Hershel W. "Woody" Williams, World War II , the last recipient of the Medal of Honor, pays homage to Speaker of the United States House Nancy Represent and lie down. Pelosi and Senate leader Chuck Schumer said on Sunday.

Dates and other details will be announced later, Pelosi and Schumaer said in a joint statement.

"Woody Williams embodies America's best: live a life of duty, honor, and courage," Pelosi said. Schumaer said: "Woody Williams was an American hero who embodied the best and best generations of our country."

Died Wednesday at the age of 98. Williams was a legend in his hometown of West Virginia after several hours of raging at the Battle of Iwo Jima. .. As a young Marine, Williams eliminated the position of a series of Japanese machine guns ahead of his troops in February 1945. Williams faced a fire of firearms, fought for four hours, and repeatedly returned to prepare for dismantling costs and obtain a flamethrower.

Later that year, 22-year-old Williams was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Harry Truman. The Medal of Honor is the highest national award for military courage.

Williams felt that his service was recognized in ainterviewwith David Martin, a national security correspondent on CBS News last year. I remembered.

"I had never heard of the Medal of Honor. I didn't know there was such a thing," Williams said, and the general first summoned him to the meeting. "I was scared to death," he said. Here he first learned of the mysterious order to "return to Washington."

"I never dreamed of seeing the President of the United States, and I'm standing with him shaking hands," Williams recalled. "Now you talk about scary moments. I was a shipwreck, I really was."

In a statement at Sunday's Memorial Ceremony in Charleston, West Virginia, Senator Joe Manchin said Williams "stopped giving back." No, "he said. This included riding an annual bike and collecting money for the family of the Gold Star (the direct family of the fallen soldiers).

"It raised hundreds of thousands of dollars," Manchin said. He joked, "Woody comes after me with a heartbeat, so it won't stop."

West Virginia Democrat Manchin said he wouldn't be able to answer Williams' phone and focused on how Williams always gave him directions and a to-do list.

"I miss him telling me how I'm supposed to vote and how I made a mistake when I didn't vote." Said Manchin.

US Marine Corps commander General David H. Berger said at the memorial that Williams had always made an exception to the idea that he had accomplished the feat alone. He always admitted the other men on his team, some of them never went home.

"Woody may be the most real person I've ever met," Berger said, noting his unique combination of humor and humor. "He was able to make you laugh. He was able to care for you. It was his gift."

Williams remained in the Marines after the war for a total of 20 years. After working, I worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs for 33 years as a Veterans Services Representative. In 2018, the Huntington VA Medical Center was renamed in honor of him, and the Navy commissioned a mobile base ship in his name in 2020.

"He left an indelible mark on our Marines," Berger said. "As long as the Marines are there, his legacy will survive."

Manchin said in a statement that Williams would open the body to Rotunda, while Pelosi and Schumaer {135. } He said he would open the body to the public in honor. The building is that government officials and military officersare in the stateand civilians have the honor.