This week’s Veteran is Herschel Williams, who served in the U.S. Army from 1966 – 1970. While in enlisted Basic Training, Williams displayed a leader’s spirit, having attended the Texas Military Institute as a teenager. He decided to apply for Officer Candidate School, OCS. And just like in Basic Training Herschel earned a Candidate Company Commander position of a new class of underclassmen. He graduated as 2nd Lieutenant in March 1967, and subsequently trained at the Artillery and Missile School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Williams was deployed to Vietnam in January 1968, deployed after being selected as a special courier of classified documents from Travis Air Force Base in San Francisco. Herschel arrived just in time for the Tet Offensive which started on January 31, 1968. Williams was in the jump seat of a Pan Am freight plane, with bodyguards at his side, while fire rained down near the runway. After delivering the secret pouch Herschel was assigned to Alpha Battery, 6th Battalion 15th Artillery, as a Fire Direction Officer. And to show that Field Artillery soldiers were just as vulnerable as the Infantry in the combat zone, Herschel was appointed Battery Commander when his own BC was killed on December 1, 1968, at Landing Zone Dot near the Cambodian border, and 5 miles south of the NVA southern command. Williams started there until the end of his tour. Herschel does have some regrets over his service in Vietnam, and with each Combat Veteran we all have episodes of second guessing our actions, coupled with feelings of inadequacy. Williams said, “I learned leadership lessons the hard way,” which involves loss of life, but his willingness to take responsibility for the lives of young men in war time always comes with risks. Herschel didn’t run. He stayed. In fact, he extended his tour for a second year, and was promoted to Captain in 1969. The extra-time in Vietnam was not good for Williams’ body. With Agent Orange around, and the extra exposure time in the country, Captain Williams was diagnosed with Testicular Cancer, a disease in the 1960’s that was treated with surgery, radiation therapy, plus a prognosis of five years to live. Following his service, Herschel was able to recover from his cancer, and attend the University of Texas at Austin, where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration. He arrived in Montgomery County in the early 1970s working with a property business in Walden in 1974. Williams has worked in Industrial Safety, Manufacturer’s Representation, Sales Management, and the Lumber Industry. He is a proud Patriot, and we laud his Service to Our Nation. Good Luck Herschel, and Congratulations on being MCNs ‘Veteran of the Week’.