SSG Maurice Miller Williams

SSG Maurice Miller Williams was born 25 Aug 1917 in Vienna, Virginia. He was the youngest of the 13 children born to Howard Milton and Leah Colmore (Cornell) Williams. His father farmed in Fairfax County, Virginia. Maurice (pronounced "Morris") completed just 3-years of high school before he began work as a gas station attendant and played amateur baseball. He might have found a position as a Richmond City policeman in early 1941 but that job wasn't going to last very long.

Unlike many of the senior NCOs in the 116th Infantry, Maurice had not been in the National Guard at the beginning of the war. He was drafted in May 1941, soon after the 116th's units had been federalized and sent to Fort George Meade, Maryland. In accordance with the policy at the time he was drafted, PVT Williams was sent there as well. Once assigned to A Company 116th Infantry, PVT Williams was with the unit as it conducted training at Fort Meade, near Fort Bragg, North Carolina and at Camp Blanding, Florida. He was with the unit when it sailed for England aboard the Queen Mary. His unit was sent to Tidworth Barracks near Stonehenge and began a period of intense training. It was soon apparent to the command that so much training without recreation wasn't good for morale and among other things, an American baseball league was begun. The 116th formed a baseball team in the summer of 1943and Williams  was chosen as pitcher on the 20-man roster. The Yankees had a 27-game winning streak and entered the 1943 ETO World Series. Although they were considered underdogs the 116th Infantry Regiment Yankees fought off the competition and won the ETO World Series. Military necessity then required that the pace of training again increase to prepare the 116th for the coming amphibious assault. It says something for his leadership skills or military competency that Maurice would achieve the rank of SSG before June 1944. SSG Williams was killed in action in that amphibious assault on 6 Jun 1944. 

SSG Williams rests forever in the Normandy American Cemetery.

Older brother, Virgil Vivian Williams, served as a PVT in A Battery 110th Field Artillery Regiment, 29th Division in France during WWI. Brother, Allen Howard Williams, also served as a PVT in France during WWI.