Assigned to 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Williams had a successful flooring business in Phoenix when the Sept 11 terrorist attacks spurred him to quit and join the Marines - he wanted to make a difference in the world. He had dropped out of Deer Valley High School in Phoenix, then earned his diploma as an adult and gone on to Glendale Community College. His comrades in boot camp, most of them 10 years younger, nicknamed him “Pops” and “Omar,” short for “Old Man River.” Williams was a forward observer who carried a 60mm mortar on his back. En route to Iraq, Williams had an allergic reaction to smallpox vaccine and could have shipped home, but he didn’t. He said, ‘I don’t want to leave like this. I don’t want to take the easy way out.’ Williams loved being outdoors and working creatively with his hands. Williams was listed as missing in action in southern Iraq and was officially listed as dead on March 29. Michael, a 6-foot-4, 240-pound Marine, had died in a dawn ambush March 23 on the outskirts of Nasiriyah. His body was recovered March 28.
Assigned to 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Williams had a successful flooring business in Phoenix when the Sept 11 terrorist attacks spurred him to quit and join the Marines - he wanted to make a difference in the world. He had dropped out of Deer Valley High School in Phoenix, then earned his diploma as an adult and gone on to Glendale Community College. His comrades in boot camp, most of them 10 years younger, nicknamed him “Pops” and “Omar,” short for “Old Man River.” Williams was a forward observer who carried a 60mm mortar on his back. En route to Iraq, Williams had an allergic reaction to smallpox vaccine and could have shipped home, but he didn’t. He said, ‘I don’t want to leave like this. I don’t want to take the easy way out.’ Williams loved being outdoors and working creatively with his hands. Williams was listed as missing in action in southern Iraq and was officially listed as dead on March 29. Michael, a 6-foot-4, 240-pound Marine, had died in a dawn ambush March 23 on the outskirts of Nasiriyah. His body was recovered March 28.
