Chet Williams earned two Purple Hearts in World War II, now he’s turning 100
Shawn HardyHard work, a good wife and, in recent years, sweetening his coffee and cereal with honey instead of sugar, are keys to a long life, according to Chester T. “Chet” Williams, who will turn 100 on July 31.
He’s seen a century of living across the southern end of Franklin County, with a stint with the U.S. Army in Europe during World War II, during which he earned two Purple Hearts, among other honors.
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He and his late wife, Dorothy, raised three children — Larry Williams, Gretchen Nelson and Jeff Williams — on a farmette between Greencastle and Shady Grove.
“Of the four of us, he takes the least medicine,” his daughter noted.
He likes to joke and laugh, and his mind is sharp as a tack, but a lifetime of living took a toll on his legs and he needs a wheelchair.
“I do pretty good for my age,” said Williams. “If I had a good pair of legs, I’d be out there dancing. My legs let me down.”
How did he get from Little Cove to Shady Grove?
The son of Chester and Gertrude (Zimmerman) Williams, he was born at Sylvan in Little Cove, commonly known as just “The Cove,” on July 31, 1923.
“That was a couple of weeks ago,” Williams said and smiled.
He had two older sisters, whose married names were Gertrude Zeger and Louise Bair. His younger sister, Dorothy, died when she was 6 or 7.
Both parents died of natural causes before he was 10, then Williams and Dorothy lived with their uncle and aunt, James and Mary Conner, whose only child had died at birth. Gertie went with other relatives and Louise with neighbors.
Williams attended school through eighth grade then spent most of his time working on the family farm.
“In ‘The Cove’ growing up, I knew about everybody,” said Williams.
His memories include a pet possum he once stashed in the mailbox and working the fields with horses named Bob and Bill. Bill was blind, but could still plow because Bob was the lead horse, he explained.
The Conners sold the Little Cove farm and in 1940 relocated to near Shady Grove, where Williams continued to work the fields.
He’d wave to anyone who passed by, including a girl who rode her bicycle to school every day from Shady Grove to Greencastle. One day that girl, Dorothy Stine, his future wife, stopped to talk.
What was his service like in World War II?
Williams progressed from plowing the fields to driving a milk truck — the kind that picked up milk from farmers in the now collectible 10-gallon cans, not the kind that delivered milk to homes.
“About 18, I got put on a milk route in West Virginia until Uncle Sam got me and gave me a cheap-paying job,” Williams recalled.
He and Stine were on a date Dec. 7, 1941, when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, propelling the United States into World War II.
Williams was drafted in 1943 and trained at several locations in the U.S. before shipping out for London. While there, he bought a 1923 silver dollar from another American.
He carried it through the war, sometimes hiding it in his shoe in case he was captured or shot, and continued to carry it every day afterward until he gave up pants with pockets for sweats. The two sides of the coin are nearly worn smooth, their images rubbed away over the years.
From London, Williams and his Company E 315th Infantry Regiment, 79th Infantry Division, sailed to France, landing on Utah Beach a week or two after D-Day.
They saw the worst fighting in France and Germany, and also traveled through Belgium, the Netherlands and into Czechoslovakia.
“We walked most of it,” Williams said, recalling the noise, diesel fumes and dust.
If his feet got wet and he was lucky, he’d have dry socks to change into. If not, he’d keep walking. He’d use his helmet to scoop water out of his foxhole.
Called Sgt. Williams or Willie in the service, he remembers hiding in a hedgerow in the rain, the Germans going past so close he could almost touch them.
The first time Williams was wounded, he was in a foxhole in France when shrapnel hit him in the leg. He treated himself using his first aid kit.
The second time, medics treated him for a shrapnel wound in the back of the hand.
“I couldn’t go to the hospital because we were surrounded, the Germans had us penned in,” said Williams, who still has the pieces of shrapnel. He also has a wooden bullet — the Germans were running out of metal — that didn’t penetrate his coat.
He can still put on his uniform, although it is a little snug.
For his service, he earned two Purple Hearts, the Good Conduct Medal, the Combat Infantry Badge, the American Campaign Medal and the European African Middle Eastern Service Medal with Four Bronze Stars.
Williams doesn’t really like to talk about the war and, when asked if he was in any big battles, said, “Every battle is a battle as far as I’m concerned — big battles or little battles.”
Years later, son Larry served in the U.S. Army navigation and communications in Vietnam.
“I was hoping he’d make it back home,” Williams said. “That’s when you start praying to the Lord to help you get people back. I know he took care of me.”
What does soon-to-be centenarian remember about family and work?
Williams returned home on Dec. 3, 1945, and married Stine on Dec. 22, 1945. She was “the boss,” Williams said.
They first lived in half a house in Five Forks. He remembers buying a washing machine at Beck and Benedict’s in Waynesboro, but it was a while before they were able to get a stove, because metal was in short supply after the war.
They later moved to Wharf Road, near Zullinger, then lived with her parents before buying the 5-acre farmette along Route 16 in 1952.
After the war, Williams returned to farming then purchased a milk route, hauling both milk and coal. He sold the route after getting appendicitis in 1954, worked at Fairchild for a couple of months, decided he didn’t like working inside and bought the route back.
He eventually had three trucks and routes, which he sold in 1966, and went into construction, first working for others, then himself before he, sort of, retired.
“I thought I did, but I kept on working,” Williams said, explaining he did odd jobs, including for Don Hummer at the Antrim House Restaurant.
And what about having fun?
Hard work is one of his secrets for a long life, but Williams still found time for fun.
He remembers snowmobiling until midnight then getting up and going to work at 4 or 5. He also was VFW horseshoe champ one year.
The family enjoyed camping, mainly at Saunderosa in “The Cove.” He hunted with the Little Cove Hunting Club and a mounted 10-point buck, the largest he ever killed, hangs on a wall in the living room, which also is decorated with paintings his wife did of local sites like Martin’s Mill Bridge and the Mont Alto Chapel and family photos.
Williams also is a woodworker, fashioning canes from limbs he gathered in the woods. In his woodshed, he also made picture frames, napkin holders, baskets and toys like rocking chairs for his grandchildren’s doll babies. He said he if he made one piece, he would have to make a number of others like it for his children and grandchildren. In addition to four grandchildren, he now has four-great-grandchildren and a great-great-grandson.
A 1930 Model A Ford he bought in 1952 has been displayed regularly, most recently by Larry during Old Home Week in 2022, when Williams, at 99, was the oldest person in the official photo.
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He’s the longest living member and a life member of the Rescue Hose Co.; a life member of the Greencastle VFW and Cumberland Valley Volunteer Firemen’s Association; and a member of the Greencastle’s American Legion and Masonic Lodge.
Although he still lives on the same property they bought in 1952, the farmhouse was torn down to make way for the extension of Grindstone Hill Road from Route 16 to Leitersburg Road.
His wife got to enjoy the new house for seven years before she died Feb. 26, 2007.
One feature of the new house that really impressed Williams was the automatic garage door opener, Larry noted.
The children take turns and someone is with Williams 24/7, along with his cat, Bootsie.
They will be joined at the house by other family members and friends to celebrate on Sunday, July 30, one day before his 100th birthday.
Cards may be sent in care of his granddaughter, Lisa Wallech, 8894 Rabbit Road North, Greencastle, PA 17225.
“Then I’ll wait for the next one,” Williams said.
Shawn Hardy is a reporter with Gannett's Franklin County newspapers in south-central Pennsylvania — the Echo Pilot in Greencastle, The Record Herald in Waynesboro and the Public Opinion in Chambersburg. She has more than 35 years of journalism experience. Reach her at shardy@gannett.com