US Navy BMC James Williams - Medal of Honor Recipient during the Vietnam War

BMC James E. Williams

On today’s episode of Duty & Valor, I’m going to tell you the story of a man who would enlist in the US Navy at the age of 16.  A man who would see combat action in two major wars.  A man who is one of seven men in US Naval history to be awarded the Silver Star, Navy Cross, and the Medal of Honor.  A man who is regarded as the most decorated enlisted man in US Naval history.  This is the story of BMC James E. Williams.

James Elliot Williams was born on November 13th, 1930 to parents of Cherokee heritage.  At an early age, James was moved by his parents to Darlington, SC, and it was there that he was raised and would graduate from St. John’s High School in 1947.  Later that year, James convinced a county clerk to alter his birth certificate, which allowed him to enlist in the US Navy at the age of 16.   He was quoted with saying that he “thought there was nothing better than servin’ my country and getting paid for it”.  

James would receive basic military training at Naval Training Center San Diego.  It was also in San Diego where he would receive his first assignment, which was aboard an LST that was buoyed in San Diego harbor.  This assignment wasn’t easy on the young sailor and he was miserably bored, as he wanted to see the world.  He would admittedly tell others that he wasn’t the poster boy for discipline early in his Naval career.  He said that “an old Chief” told him that he had to “learn to take orders, even if you disagree with them… or you wouldn’t be respected when you give them later”.  He credited this with the new found focus on being a “good sailor, with the sharpest knife and the shiniest shoes”.  It was around this time that he met his future wife, Elaine Weaver.  They got married in 1949 and would go on to have five children together.

From 1950 to 1952,  he would be assigned to the destroyer USS Douglas H Fox in support of the Korean War.  He would be part of numerous landing parties aboard small boats launched from the ship.  These raiding parties were focused on riverine warfare where they would operate within inland waterways and engage the enemy in small crafts and coastal defensive positions.  This experience would come in handy 14 years later during the Vietnam War.  

Following the Korean war he would be assigned to various naval vessels before volunteering for combat in Vietnam.  By April 1966, he was a boatswain’s mate first class and would be assigned to the River Squadron Five, where he was given command of the PBR-105.  PBR’s, also known as patrol boat river, were small boats specifically designed for the shallow, weed-filled intercoastal waterways of Vietnam.  These boats generally had a crew of four to five, which consisted of the boat captain, gunners mate, engineman, and a seaman.  All of whom were trained to fill the role of any of the other men, if needed.  The armaments typically found on PBR’s were twin 50 caliber machine guns forward, and a single machine gun at the rear.  Two light machine guns and grenade launchers on each side, as well as M16’s, shotguns, handguns, and hand grenades. 

Williams was tasked with intercepting arms and supply shipments, as well as protecting the locals from the Viet Cong in the Mekong River Delta and on Oct. 31st, Williams said he was expecting a “relax and recreation patrol” alongside another PBR, PBR-101, before his forward gunner would yell that there were two fast moving boats crossing ahead of them.    

The PBR’s began chasing the two sampans before they broke off in different directions.  Williams commanded the 105 to follow the sampan that was heading North and were able to sink it before it could enter a nearby river.   The fast moving PBR’s would then focus on the other escaping boat.  They quickly gained on the enemy vessel and were about to open fire when it would make a quick turn into a narrow canal.  The PBR’s were too wide to follow the enemy down the canal so Williams would reference a map where he would notice that there was only one place where the other boat could come out.  They would make their way about a third of a mile at top speed to intercept the fleeing boat.

As they rounded the corner, the crews of the PBR’s would see a large staging area with countless enemy boats and men.  Williams knew that he could not slow the boat down enough to make a turn and head back the way which they came, so he had the PBR’s racing at full speed toward the enemy.  The enemy were disrupted from taking careful aim at the US patrol by utilizing the wake which was caused by the PBR’s making abrupt maneuvers.  The enemy were in a state of disbelief and confusion by the PBR’s racing directly towards them.  Under heavy enemy fire coming from all directions, the PBR’s would zigzag as they made their way through the middle of the enemy formation while simultaneously returning fire of their own.  The chaos caused by the swift attack by two lone boats would lead to the enemy missing their targets, in fact it was reported that the enemy would inflict casualties on their own.

As the two boats broke through the enemy concentration and rounded the next corner, they were astounded to find a second staging area.  Knowing that there was no way out they just had to fight.  Williams would say that he “criss-crossed and turned” the PBR and did “whatever he could to get them off their backs”.  While fighting the enemy, Williams would request fire support from armed helicopters.  While waiting for them, he would continue to direct his men to put up a fight.  Before the helicopters would arrive, the PBR’s would continue to engage the enemy and would damage or destroy over 50 enemy sampans and 7 junks.  

Williams and the crew of the two PBR’s would engage in a fierce battle against an enemy that had them outnumbered.  They not only had to fight off the enemy aboard many vessels, they also had to withstand fire from automatic weapons and snipers in well-concealed positions along the shore.

Once the helicopters arrived, the waterborne threat had been eliminated, but the men of the PBR’s still faced an enemy that was in fortified and heavily disguised positions on land.  As night was falling, Williams would take the risk and bring the PBR’s dangerously close to the shoreline so they could find and illuminate enemy positions with their search lights, which allowed the helicopters to destroy the threats.  When the dust settled on the three and a half hour battle, the enemy had lost 65 boats and approximately 1,200 men.  Miraculously, the US Patrol did not lose a single man.   

For his extraordinary heroism and exemplary fighting spirit in the face of grave risk, BM1 Williams would be awarded the Medal of Honor by President Johnson at the Pentagon on the 14th of May, 1968, the year after he retired from military service. 

In 1969, He would be appointed a US Marshal for the District of South Carolina, where he would serve until May of 1977.  He would then be an instructor and national armorer at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glyco, GA, before returning to the District of South Carolina.  In 1980, he would become a programs manager at the US Marshals Service headquarters in Washington DC, where he would stay until his retirement.

BMC Williams would pass away on October 13th, 1999, on the Navy’s 224th birthday.  He is buried at the Florence National Cemetery in Florence, South Carolina.  

Thank you for listening, and if you enjoyed this week's show, we kindly ask that you follow us and leave a review and 5 star rating.  Sources for today's show can be found in the show notes.  And join us next week where we’ll tell you the story of another true American hero.