Tribute to a Generation: Haydn Williams and the Building of the WWII Memorial

National Archives Museum
Online

In Tribute to a Generation, retired Navy commander David F. Winkler tells the story of F. Haydn Williams, a World War II naval officer and official in the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations. Williams saw the recognition of the Greatest Generation as a final mission in life and leaned on a good friend, former Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Bill Crowe, to get an appointment to the American Battle Monuments Commission. Williams assembled a talented group to work out the details of the memorial while working to overcome strong opposition to its completion.