Lloyd W. Williams

The Clarke Courier of July 4, 1917, under the headline "Local Boy Now in France," printed a photograph of Capt. Lloyd W. Williams from the Marine Corps Publicity Bureau and reported that Captain Lloyd William Williams, United States Marine Corps, "formerly of Berryville," had "gone with the first contingent U. S. Marines for service overseas." It said he was a son of Mr. and Mrs. Goodwin H. Williams, born June 5, 1887, in Berryville, appointed a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps on January 8, 1910, and commissioned first lieutenant on June 12, 1916 and captain on August 29, 1916.

• Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., July 4, 1917, page 1: "Local Boy Now in France"

The Clarke Courier of June 27, 1918 reported that Lloyd William Williams of Berryville, a son of Mr. and Mrs. Goodwin H. Williams, had been promoted from captain to major in the United States Marine Corps, and called him "the first Clarke boy, so far as is now known, to be rewarded for distinguished bravery and heroism in action."

• Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., June 27, 1918, page 1: "Lloyd Williams Made a Major"

The Clarke Courier of July 4, 1918 reported that his wife, Mrs. Selina Williams, and his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Goodwin H. Williams, had received a telegram from the War Department that Capt. Lloyd W. Williams of the Marine Corps "had died from wounds received in action on June 11." It said he was born at "Nottingham," in Clarke County, on June 5, 1887, and that "So far as available records show, Capt. Williams is the first son of Clarke to be killed in France."

• Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., July 4, 1918, page 1: "Gallant Lloyd Williams Killed in France"

The Clarke Courier of July 18, 1918 announced memorial services at Grace Episcopal Church on Sunday, July 21, for Capt. Lloyd Williams, U. S. M. C., "who died of wounds received in France on June 17."

• Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., July 18, 1918, page 1: "Memorial Services at Grace Church"

At the memorial service at Grace Church in July 1918, the Clarke Courier of July 25, 1918 reported, the rector, Rev. Malcolm S. Taylor, said that Capt. Lloyd W. Williams had been slightly wounded on June 9 and taken to a hospital at Lucy, behind the lines, and that a shell falling in the room where he lay "exploded and killed him instantly."

• Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., July 25, 1918, page 1: "Pay Tribute to Capt. Williams"

The Clarke Courier of November 28, 1918, retelling the account of a lieutenant of his company, reported that on June 6 Capt. Lloyd W. Williams went alone into a wheat field to carry first aid to his wounded and was awarded the croix de guerre, and that on June 11, wounded in the left arm and shoulder, he was carried to the dressing station at Lucy, where a shell exploded and mortally wounded him. A Red Cross letter it quoted says he was "fatally rewounded while being carried to or actually in the dressing station" and "buried at La Ferte by Chaplain Father Brady."

• Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., November 28, 1918, page 1: "Details of Capt. Williams' Death" and the report of the death of Robert E. Russell

The Clarke Courier of September 18, 1919 printed a letter of August 14, 1919 from Father John J. Brady, a Navy chaplain, to Mrs. Lloyd W. Williams, which says: "I did not have the honor of burying Captain Williams as he died in one of the hospitals in the rear," and "If I remember rightly he was wounded again by the flying fragments of a bursting shell while being carried on a stretcher to the rear."

• Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., September 18, 1919, page 1: "Army Chaplain Tells of Capt. Williams' Heroism"

The Clarke Courier of July 10, 1919 reprinted a United Press account that traced the reply "Retreat, Hell No!", attributed for months to Gen. Omar Bundy, to Capt. Lloyd Williams of the 51st Company, 5th Marines: a French major told him to follow a withdrawal, and "'Retreat?' the American asked. 'Hell, no!'" It quotes his message as "French major ordered me to withdraw with him. Told him to go to hell," says he was killed six days later, on June 12, 1918, and says a Distinguished Service Cross was sent later to his home at Berryville.

• Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., July 10, 1919, page 1: "5,000 Pay Homage to Clarke Heroes"

The Clarke Courier of November 6, 1919, quoting an article by Alexander Woollcott (the paper prints "Woolcott") in the Home Sector, says the story that General Bundy had answered a French order to retreat with "Retreat hell, I just got here!" "was not true. But it was not sheer invention": Captain Williams of the Marines, met by an excited French officer who said the order was to retreat, "told him to go to hell." It says Williams was later killed by a random shell while on the operating table in the dressing station.

• Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., November 6, 1919, page 3: "ARMISTICE DAY MEETING"

The Clarke Courier of September 25, 1919 reported that Maj. Henry W. Carpenter, Sergeant Moses O'Brien and Corporal Robert Fuller, for about 15 veterans of Berryville and vicinity, had applied for the charter of an American Legion post at Berryville, and that the post would be named in honor of Maj. Lloyd W. Williams.

• Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., September 25, 1919, page 1: "Clarke Boys Will Honor Memory of Capt. Williams"

The Clarke Courier of July 14, 1921 reported that the body of Maj. Lloyd W. Williams, which had reached New York from France after three years, would arrive at Berryville that Thursday morning, with funeral services at Grace Church and burial in the Williams lot in Green Hill Cemetery. Its issue of July 21, 1921 reported that "On Thursday last" he was laid to rest "on a beautiful slope of Green Hill Cemetery," and quoted his reply to the French officers as "Fall back hell, We are going to advance."

• Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., July 14, 1921, page 1: "Maj. William's Body Reaches Here Today"
• Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., July 21, 1921

The list of Clarke soldiers' war honors that the Clarke Courier printed on April 26, 1923, compiled from the first volume of the Virginia War History, gives Lloyd William Williams, captain of the 51st Company of Marines, the French croix de guerre with palms and a silver star citation at Chateau Thierry, June 3, 1918, and quotes a citation for June 6, 1918: he "continued fighting until he was severely wounded by machine gun fire, and later killed by shell fire." The list names no Distinguished Service Cross for him.

• Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., April 26, 1923

Reporting the death of Robert E. Russell, son of Mrs. Mary A. Russell and the late Jesse Russell, the Clarke Courier of November 28, 1918 called him "the second son of Clarke county who has met death on the field of battle so far as official reports show. Capt. Lloyd Williams was the first."

• Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., November 28, 1918, page 1: "Details of Capt. Williams' Death" and the report of the death of Robert E. Russell