| SERGEANT THEADES WILLIAMS (World War II American Hero) Theades Williams was born to William Harvey and Mary Leo Dicy Williams on October 21, 1919. He was raised in the New Zion community on the outskirts of Etowah, Tennessee. Theades was the 9th child born into a family of 15 children (9 boys and 6 girls). There wasn’t a lot of time for school in the early 1900’s. Theades attended Gravel Hill School, a two-room school that served students ranging from 1st through 8th grades. Theades was unable to complete his education at Gravel Hill due to economic hardships. The Williams family made a living by farming rental properties, so even at a young age the children assisted with the farming and household chores. In 1941 at the age of 21, Theades Williams got his first public job making socks at the Etowah Sportswear Hosiery Mill. However, it was only about six months later that he was drafted and was officially inducted into the United States Army on October 17, 1941. Theades Williams, along with other young men of McMinn County and the surrounding area, boarded a train to Camp Croft in Spartinburg, South Carolina. There these young men prepared themselves for war. After basic training, Private Williams was stationed in Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia. His salary in his early military days was $14 per month. (During his years of service, Theades was promoted to Sergeant and his monthly salary had increased to $40 upon his discharge in 1945.) From the beginning, it was the intention of Williams to have a military career, but God had different plans for his life. Private Williams’ overseas service began on April 7, 1942, when he left the States for Iceland. He arrived in Iceland on April 18, 1942. After a long 15-month tour of duty, Williams received orders to leave Iceland in July 1943. His next tour of duty would take him to France, arriving on July 9, 1943, to join in the fight against Germany in World War II. His unit (Company L, 11th Infantry) served under General Patton. Williams had now been promoted to Sergeant and was officially assigned the duties of a Light Mortar Crewman (#607). According to Williams, his job was to observe mortar fire. However, in the heat of the battle on September 17, 1944, Sergeant Williams was critically wounded in Metz when an 88-mortar shell hit behind his squad as he and the Fifth Armored Division drove through Northern France toward the German border. The impact of the shrapnel from the blast blew Sergeant Williams down the hill some 30 to 40 feet. Thinking he was dead, his squad left him on the battlefield. Sergeant Williams, going in and out of consciousness, realized he was alone on foreign soil; and he began to pray. As a young man, he had accepted Jesus as his Savior during revival services at New Zion Baptist Church; however, he had not always lived as close to the Lord as he should. It was on that battlefield that he asked the Lord to allow him to get back home (to the States) so that he could work for him and strive to win at least one soul to Him. It was sometime later that Sergeant Williams’ squad came back to that battlefield, discovered Williams was alive, and carried him off the battlefield to a nearby field hospital. Sergeant Williams recalled waking up with sheets draped around him in an effort to stop the immense loss of blood. The mortar fire had hit him in the back causing considerable damage to his spinal cord, his colon, and other internal organs. As soon as Sergeant Williams was somewhat stable, he was transferred to England by plane so that he could receive better medical treatment for his disabling injuries. On October 4, 1944, he was transferred by ship from the hospital in England to the United States. His prognosis of surviving the long trip to Memphis was not good, but little did the doctors know that God was in the process of answering his battlefield prayer. Sergeant Williams arrived at the Kennedy General Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, on October 19, 1944, where he remained a patient of KGH until his discharge on June 9, 1945. During the mid-1940s, Memphis, Tennessee, was a quite a journey from Etowah. However, several people from the East Tennessee area made the trip by automobile or by bus during his months of recuperation. Some of Sergeant Williams’ visitors while he was in the hospital in Memphis were his father and mother, Will and Dicy; his brother and sister-in-law, Roy and Ruby; Ruby’s father, Tom Long; Nellie Wilson, his cousin who lived in Knoxville at that time, and her close friend Edith Irene Jones. Sergeant Williams was diagnosed with a severed spinal cord, and he was paralyzed from the waist down. Due to those injuries, the doctors concurred that Sergeant Williams would never walk again and would never be able to father children. What the doctors did not realize was that God’s plan was in motion, so the miracles began. While in the hospital, Sergeant Williams astonished the doctors and nurses by first moving one of his toes; then he began moving his feet; then his legs. After many months of rehabilitation and in answer to a prayer, Sergeant Williams was discharged from Kennedy General Hospital in early June 1945 with the assistance of a walking cane instead of a wheelchair. Sergeant Theades Williams was officially discharged from the Army with a 100% military disability on June 9, 1945. For his service, he received several war-related metals including the Purple Heart, EAME Campaign Metal, Bronze Battle Star, and Combat Infantryman Badge. (Some 54 years later an interesting event occurred when one of the soldiers, Joe Haslinger, in his unit contacted Sergeant Williams to return a German Luger. The newspaper article (dated March 1998) describing this reunion is included below.) Theades Williams’ Army career was no longer an option, but a new life would soon begin with a young woman he met while recuperating in Kennedy General Hospital. Edith Irene Jones, who was born and raised in Granger County, Tennessee, had recently completed beauty school training in Knoxville. On June 10, 1945, Theades and Edith Jones were married in Georgia and returned to Etowah to begin their life together. In the next few years, the Lord blessed their union with the birth of two children, Michael Theades in June 1951 and Kaye Jean in December 1952. Being reminded of his promise to the Lord on the battlefield, Theades announced his call to the ministry in 1956 and was ordained to the Baptist ministry by New Zion Church. Reverend Williams counted it a blessing and privilege to pastor two churches during his ministry — Clay Hill Baptist Church in Riceville (1956-1960; 1969-1973) and Greasy Creek Baptist Church in Reliance (1960-1963; 1964-1966; 1967- 1968). A lot of people remembered Theades in those days for his unique style of preaching. He was referred to as the “little crippled preacher.” Using a walking stick for balance, he dragged his feet when he walked. But when he would get behind the church pulpit, that disability seemed to disappear. He would hang his walking stick on the side of the pulpit, and it seemed the Lord would carry him. To watch Reverend Williams preach was a special blessing and was a reminder of what God can do when no one else can. Reverend Williams’ evangelistic work allowed him to hold many revivals throughout East Tennessee and into some parts of Georgia and Florida. As Theades’ age progressed, the use of his legs declined, but he did not falter. Reverend Williams used the assistance of two walking canes to carry on the ministry that the Lord had given him. However, in his senior years, Theades Williams lost the use of his legs entirely and was reliant on a wheelchair for his mobility. Knowing this day would eventually come, Theades and Edith built a handicap-accessible home on County Road 607 in McMinn County, Tennessee, and purchased a van equipped with a wheelchair lift. Being confined to a wheelchair didn’t stop him from serving the Lord. He continued to preach, to teach, and to testify from his wheelchair until the day the Lord called him home. Besides his commitment to God and his love for his family, Theades Williams had an avid love for fishing and hunting. He enjoyed fishing and hunting with his brothers and other friends and neighbors. In fact, a few years after his military discharge, Theades and his brother Roy bought TVA property in Roane County for the purpose of building the Blue Springs Boat Dock. In the mid- to-late 1950s, Theades and Roy sold the dock and returned home to Etowah so Theades could pursue God’s call to the ministry. Besides their two children, Theades and Edith were blessed with eight grandchildren; and as of today, their family has continued to grow to 18 grandchildren. Most of their family members live in McMinn County in the communities of Englewood, Athens, and Riceville. Theades and Edith enjoyed their life and family, but Edith passed away on February 17, 2004. Her passing left Theades devastated and alone for the last three years of his life. However, he continued to live at his home on County Road 607. His son and daughter, other family members, and two very special caregivers made sure he was well taken care of during those years, but they could not replace the loss of his beloved spouse. On April 30, 2007, at the age of 87, the Lord called Theades Williams home and gave him a new body, one that was not ravaged from the war nor worn out from the battles of this life. What a blessing to know that Theades Williams’ life was fulfilled; his ministry was complete; and he was enjoying his special Welcome Home party in Heaven. Even with all the physical handicaps and other health issues, Theades Williams found something that most people never find in a lifetime. He found peace with God, and he found inner-strength and comfort in fulfilling God’s mission for his life. His service to God, to his country, to his family, and to his fellowman made him a true American hero of which I am proud to call my father! Excerpts from “A LIFE REMEMBERED — A TRIBUTE TO REVEREND THEADES WILLIAMS” Written by daughter, Kaye Williams Burton |