Dewayne Thomas Williams

The Marine Who Gave His Life to Save His Patrol

On his nineteenth birthday, Private First Class Dewayne Thomas Williams faced a choice that lasted only seconds but would define his legacy forever. Already wounded and under intense enemy fire in Vietnam, he saw a grenade land among his fellow Marines. Rather than seek cover, Williams threw himself onto it. His sacrifice saved the men around him and earned him the United States military's highest decoration for valor, the Medal of Honor.

Dewayne Thomas Williams was born on 18 September 1949 in Brown City, Michigan, and grew up in the St. Clair area. He attended schools in St. Clair as well as Capac High School. On 18 December 1967, with the Vietnam War intensifying, Williams enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve. He entered the active United States Marine Corps on 2 January 1968 and began the demanding transformation from civilian to Marine.

Williams completed recruit training with the 3rd Recruit Training Battalion at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego in March 1968. He then underwent individual combat training at Camp Pendleton in April, followed by weapons training in May. On 1 June 1968, he was promoted to Private First Class. Later that month, the young Marine deployed to the Republic of Vietnam, only about six months after entering active service.

His first Vietnam assignment was as an automatic rifleman with Company I, 3rd Battalion, 27th Marines, 1st Marine Division. In August 1968 he transferred to Company H, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines, where he served as an anti-tank assault man. It was with this battalion that Williams would perform the action for which his name entered Marine Corps history.

On the night of 18 September 1968 in Quang Nam Province, Williams was operating with a combat patrol from 1st Platoon, Company H. The Marines had been sent out to establish positions from which they could intercept enemy sniper teams. As the patrol prepared to move to its night position, it was suddenly ambushed by enemy troops using small arms and hand grenades. Williams was severely wounded in the back during the opening fire. Yet instead of withdrawing, he began crawling toward a better position from which he could continue the fight.

Then came the warning that an enemy grenade had landed among the Marines.

Williams saw the grenade close to his position. There was no time to move it and almost no time to react. He deliberately rolled his body over the grenade. The explosion killed him, but his body absorbed its devastating force. His Medal of Honor citation credited his action with saving other members of the patrol from serious injury or death and helping them defeat the attackers and hold their position until assistance arrived. The citation praised his extraordinary initiative, inspiring valor and devotion to duty, concluding that he had upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service. Williams died on the same date on which he had been born nineteen years earlier. In a life that lasted only nineteen years, his final seconds became an extraordinary example of the Marine Corps ideal of protecting fellow Marines regardless of personal cost.

His sacrifice was recognized posthumously with the Medal of Honor. On 20 April 1970, his family received the decoration at the White House, where it was presented by Vice President Spiro T. Agnew. Williams also received the Purple Heart for wounds received in action, while his direct participation in combat qualified him for the Combat Action Ribbon.

His service with 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines also fell within the battalion's Presidential Unit Citation period of 21 August through 31 October 1968, encompassing the action in which Williams was killed. His Vietnam service covered two recognized campaign phases, reflected by two bronze service stars on the Vietnam Service Medal. His service in-country also qualified him for the Republic of Vietnam Meritorious Unit Citations in both the Gallantry Cross Color with Palm and Frame and Civil Actions First Class Color with Palm and Frame, awards authorized for Navy and Marine Corps personnel serving in Vietnam during the qualifying periods.

The Medal of Honor is the award associated with Williams' individual valor citation. His other honors, including the Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal and unit citations, were awarded according to wounds, combat participation, qualifying service, campaign participation or unit entitlement rather than through separate individual heroism citations.

Dewayne T. Williams' sacrifice has continued to be remembered long after the Vietnam War. His name appears on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial at Panel 43W, Line 25, and Michigan designated a section of Interstate 69 between Lapeer and Port Huron as the DeWayne T. Williams Memorial Highway.

His name also lives at sea. The Military Sealift Command vessel USNS PFC Dewayne T. Williams (T-AK 3009) carries the name of the young Marine whose final action was defined not by self-preservation, but by protecting the Marines beside him. The ship remains part of the United States Military Sealift Command's Maritime Prepositioning Force.

Private First Class Dewayne Thomas Williams had only a brief Marine Corps career, but courage is not measured by years of service. On 18 September 1968, wounded, surrounded by enemy fire and faced with almost certain death, he chose the lives of his fellow Marines over his own. That single act made his story one of the most powerful examples of selfless sacrifice from the Vietnam War and secured his place among America's Medal of Honor recipients.