The Last Battle for Iwo Jima Legend Woody Williams, Only Surviving WWII Medal of Honor Recipient

"Hershel Woodrow "Woody" Williams of Quiet Dell, West Virginia, became a Marine legend on Iwo Jima with a 70-pound M2 flamethrower strapped to his back. But he says he still has promises to keep at age 97 even after a lifetime of postwar service to veterans and Gold Star families.

Trying to live up to the responsibility that comes with the Medal of Honor, Williams spent 33 years after the war with what was then known as the Veterans Administration, first as a counselor and then overseeing 16 VA offices across West Virginia to advise veterans and widows on their benefits.

But that was not enough in Williams' mind to fulfill the duty he saw goes along with wearing the nation's highest award for valor.

He saw a void in the recognition of Gold Star families' sacrifices, whether their loved ones fell in combat or succumbed to what became known as the "invisible wounds" of war. So he set out to plug the gap.

Through his Woody Williams Foundation, he began to raise money and rally community support to put up Gold Star Families Memorial Monuments to those for whom wars never end after the fateful knock on the door, despite cease-fires or withdrawal timelines."