[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 52 (Monday, April 13, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E452-E453]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     IN RECOGNITION OF LES WILLIAMS

                                  _____
                                 

                           HON. JACKIE SPEIER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, April 13, 2015

  Ms. SPEIER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to remember an amazing American and 
an outstanding patriot. Mr. Les Williams has died at the age of 95. Mr. 
Williams was one of the heroic Tuskegee Airmen. He was awarded the 
Congressional Gold Medal for his service to this nation. He was also a 
Stanford undergraduate and law school graduate, and a distinguished 
attorney in my district for many years.
  Mr. Williams grew up in San Mateo and was part of a middle-class 
African American community in San Mateo until the Great Depression 
financially devastated his family. In order to earn money for his 
college education, he started a business teaching dance. When America 
entered World War II, Mr. Williams volunteered to join the Army Air 
Corps. Only after the war did he learn that his original application 
was denied because he was African American.
  The Army drafted Mr. Williams and placed him into a laborer's job 
working on the docks, a job that ordinarily would have ended his flying 
career before it began. As disappointed as he was, however, Mr. 
Williams was a patriot. As he later said, ``I became a worker. I wasn't 
very proud of that. I had to go. One thing though, I was going to do 
what my country told me to do because I was an American and I'll always 
be an American.''
  Mr. Williams and others also formed a band and Mr. Williams danced. 
After a performance at a Kaiser shipyard, a general congratulated Mr. 
Williams and the band. The general also asked if he could help the men 
in any way and Mr. Williams immediately volunteered, again, to fly. 
Shortly thereafter, Les Williams was on his way to Tuskegee, Alabama, 
truly a rendezvous with history.
  His training in Tuskegee was rigorous, but even more demanding was 
the culture of discrimination in Tuskegee. As he later noted, 
discrimination existed in his hometown of San Mateo, but it was nothing 
like Tuskegee. For example, failing to wait for a white person to cross 
the street could get you dragged from the car and beaten. This was a 
level of violence that Les Williams had not faced before.
  Les Williams was a great pilot. He'd never been near a plane before 
going to ground school, but Les Williams excelled. The white officer 
who gave him his check out flight test had a 100% record of washing out 
African American students. But he didn't wash out Les Williams. At the 
time, the officer noted that Mr. Williams was cocky, but also noted 
that fighter pilots needed to be cocky. Mr. Williams eventually 
switched to bombers and enjoyed flying the B-25. However, the war 
wouldn't wait. By the time the Army Air Corps assembled a full cockpit 
bomber crew, the war was over.
  After the war, Captain Les Williams returned to San Mateo and started 
a successful dance studio. Here, in his hometown, he again faced a lot 
of prejudice. He won the right to build his dance study on a 3-2 vote 
of the City Council, with at least one resident throwing her purse at 
him in anger over the idea that an African American could be allowed to 
build a new structure in a largely white part of town. By 1947, Mr. 
Williams also entered Stanford University on the G.I. bill, graduating 
with a degree in history. He continued operating his dance studio for 
about 25 years and eventually returned to Stanford to study law, 
graduating in the 1970's. He was an active and distinguished attorney 
in our community for many years. He is survived by his wife, Elsie, 
daughters Penny and Paula, two grandsons and two great-grandchildren.
  Mr. Speaker, through his dedication to America Les Williams proved 
one thing beyond a shadow of a doubt: He was a patriot. A man who loved 
America and who worked hard to overcome the barriers placed in his 
path, he personified the energetic pursuit of opportunity in this 
nation. We owe the Tuskegee Airmen our gratitude for helping to break 
the color barrier, but we owe Les Williams our respect because he not 
only broke the barrier but also set the bar of achievement higher for 
all America.
  Today, let us remember Les Williams when we think of equality under 
the law. At 95 years old upon his passing, Les Williams is a man who 
willed to each of us decades of opportunity, provided we have the 
wisdom to preserve and to nurture his legacy.

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