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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 20, 2015)
2C THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015 Leadership, loyalty and perseverance Veteran says Ilwaco High School has ‘a tradition of serving’ By KATHERYN HOUGHTON EO Media Group ILWACO, Wash. — George Williams asked the student to repeat her question — his hearing has been bad since the explosion. The student spoke louder, “What was the scariest mo- ment for you?” The Ilwaco High School gym was quiet as the teen- agers waited for the soldier’s response. “I could say it was when I got blown up, but I can’t re- ally remember that,” Williams said. The scariest moment was when an of¿cer handed him a clip of ammo in a base in Kuwait. “That’s when I realized, there may be some people outside those walls who don’t want me there,” Williams said. Finding a purpose Earlier this month, Wil- liams spoke at the Ilwaco High School veterans’ assem- bly about his life since he left the peninsula in 1995 to join the military. “I want to tell you my story, not to scare you, but show you that despite anything that hap- pens you can overcome adver- sity,” he told the students. Williams, who went by “Lonnie” in school, was Il- waco High’s 1987 class pres- ident. The school’s cafeteria was his ballroom for school dances. He spent muddy nights on the football ¿eld and Saturday mornings on the track. His mom was a teacher and his dad was a coach. After high school, Wil- liams studied education at Eastern Washington Universi- ty. By 1995, he was teaching summer English classes at the Naselle Youth Camp, but consistent work was hard to ¿nd. One night he went back to his Long Beach home and turned on the TV. Soldiers and “Be all you can be” formed in front of a Àag Àashed on his screen. “I wanted a purpose, and that seemed like a good one to have,” Williams said in a later interview. Mosul bombing In 2004 Iraq was chaos, Williams said. Buildings were crumbles. Residents were ner- vous and soldiers were ¿ght- ing an unseen enemy. Katheryn Houghton/EO Media Group George Williams, an Ilwaco High School alum, tells students of his experiences fighting the war in Iraq. ‘I want to tell you my story, not to scare you, but show you that despite anything that happens you can overcome adversity.’ George Williams a major with the Washington National Guard’s 81st Stryker Brigade Combat Team who’s also an Ilwaco High School alum Katheryn Houghton/EO Media Group George Williams, a major with the Washington National Guard’s 81st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, spoke to Ilwaco High School students last week. Along with 4,000 other soldiers in the 1st Brigade 25th Infantry Division, Wil- liams’ mission was to train and support the Iraqi army and ¿nd insurgents. Williams was six days away from a home visit when a suicide bomber entered his base’s mess hall. ? 9-1-WHAT? “Three of us always ate lunch together,” he said. “On that day, one friend was 40 miles north on a mission. My other friend, she sat across from me. She was in my shad- ow as it happened.” She watched a man 20 feet behind Williams stand up and pull something off his vest. Then she watched the man explode. The bomb killed 22 peo- ple. It was the deadliest single attack since the U.S.-led inva- sion of Iraq in March 2003. Williams was knocked out for ¿ve minutes. He felt himself spin back into reality as he heard his name being yelled. The spinning stopped when he opened his eyes and saw his friend leaning over him. Then he felt the pain. There’s a photo that was widely used by media outlets of a man being carried out of the hall on a stretcher. A hole in the roof illuminates the hall as soldiers carry soldiers to medics. In the background, ¿ve people lean over Williams. His shirt is ripped, showing a tattoo of the sun. The photo was how his wife learned Wil- liams was in the bombing. Williams spent a month in a hospital, had 12 surgeries and took six months of phys- ical therapy. Today, his sun is surrounded by a sleeve of tattoos that covers two plates and 22 screws in his arm. He also has four pieces of shrap- nel lodged in his body. Williams said people ask him if he has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder — he said if he does, he manages it well. Training grounds Williams sat in the bleachers with students as they watched a slideshow of Ilwaco alumni who served in the military. The room erupted in applause when Williams’ name and photo appeared. “Ilwaco has a tradition of serving,” Williams told the students, listing a classmate who became a crew chief on Air Force One and another peer who served as a Marine in Operation Desert Storm. He currently serves as a ma- jor with the Washington Na- tional Guard’s 81st Stryker Brigade Combat Team. He said leadership, loy- alty and perseverance were traits he sharpened in the service but learned in his high school halls. “Every time you train on the football field, or pre- pare for a debate,” he said. “That’s real training for whatever thing you choose.” Going soft serve W arrenton used to have a reputation as a rough-and-tumble kind of town. There are a few places — we won’t mention any names, but you know — that are still a little salty in between the big-box stores. But a rumble at the Dairy Queen? Seriously? Did they run out of Dilly Bars or something? We can do better. Follow reporter Kyle Spurr on his 9-1-What? Twitter watch, where a few of the sometimes head-scratching calls to area dispatch take center stage. The full feed is at www.twitter.com/9_1_WHAT. THE BEST OF THE WORST CALLS TO ASTORIA 911 DISPATCH RIDE NO THE BUS ON BLAC K FRIDAY FOR A CAN OF FOOD! VEM BER 2 7 Help u s help others w ith you r canned food donation 1 Ca n = 1 Ride No w a itin g in lon g lin es for a p a rk in g s p ot! Ju s t brin g a ca n of food a n d rid e the bu s to a ll you r fa vorite s hop p in g a rea s . Rela x a n d let u s w orry a bou t the tra ffic!! Lea ve your ca r a t hom e! N eed to get an early s tart? N o pro b lem ! W e sta rt a t 6a m ... you w on’t m is s a thing! For more information or alternative formats contact us at 503-861-7433 • http://www.ridethebus.org/ M a ke it e a s y o n yo urs e lf...A s h o ppin g a d ve n ture a w a its yo u a s w e kick o ff o ur m o n th lo n g ca n n e d fo o d d rive o n Bla ck Frid a y....a n d h e lpin g o th e rs is th e b o n us .
