CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Significant steps forward were taken Tuesday afternoon towards bringing a statue honoring a West Virginia native and World War II hero to Washington, D.C.
The first-ever Hershel “Woody” Williams Statue Commission meeting took place at the state Capitol building in Charleston. The commission, created by Gov. Patrick Morrisey and the state legislature, will honor Williams at the National Statuary Hall Collection within the United States Capitol. Williams, a Marion County native, was the last surviving World War II Medal of Honor recipient before his death in 2022.
Each state in the country has two statues within the hall.
“We’re going to move the statue of John Kenna to the Culture Center right here in Charleston, where it can be properly displayed,” Morrisey said. “In its place, in the Capitol, the National Statuary Hall collection will (include) a statue of Woody Williams, so the entire nation can see West Virginia’s courage and commitment.”
Kenna had a long career as a Kanawha County circuit judge and prosecutor, as well as serving in the U.S. House of Representatives, following his time as a Confederate soldier. His statue has stood in D.C. for 125 years.
Morrisey said that Williams is quite deserving of the honor. Williams served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the second world war, taking out seven Japanese gun emplacements at Iwo Jima with a flame thrower. That effort gave Marines a foothold to advance.
“When you think about Woody Williams, you think about one of the last great American heroes,” Morrisey said. “If you ever had a chance to meet up, you know just how humble of a person he was. To do the kinds of things that he did, to show the kind of courage and bravery, I can’t possibly imagine.”
The Williams family recently heard good news with another honor for the late war hero. President Donald Trump signed the Hershel “Woody” Williams National Medal of Honor Monument Location Act into law last month. The legislation brings about the construction of a monument in Washington, D.C. at the National Mall that would honor Medal of Honor recipients. U.S. Senator Jim Justice first introduced the bill.
State Tourism Secretary Kayla Kessinger is the chair of the commission. She said that it will be a collaborative effort among tourism staff, state arts office, historic preservation office, state museum, and state archives to determine what the statue will look like and its requirements.
“The ability to meet with the architect at the Capitol so that we can really understand what the requirements for the National Statuary Hall collection at the United States Capitol are, and then report back to the commission,” Kessinger explained.
Kessinger also asked the commission for approval to create additional committees and subcommittees to expedite the statue process.
“We also think that it would be very helpful, and it will help us in moving this process along a little bit quicker, if we have the opportunity to create some subcommittees within this commission,” Kessinger said. “We are so grateful for every single member of this commission and the time that you are going to put in to help make this happen, but we want to make sure that it’s happening quickly.”
The commission gave her unanimous approval to create such committees.
Former Cabell County Delegate Daniel Linville, who now serves as the Morrisey administration’s director of special projects, said there are many options for what the statue will ultimately look like.
“We could do it as 17-year-old Woody, or we could do it towards the end of his life,” Linville explained. “There will be a lot of decisions to make there.”
Linville did note that they have more complete information about older Woody Williams than they do the youthful one.
“I do know that we have a full 3-D scan of later-in-life Woody that we could utilize. We would be very, very accurate that way.”
The next meeting of the commission was set for November 10.