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Battling his own Army
Army sergeant from Westmoreland County faces court-martial over actions in IraqDate published: 4/25/2004
By CATHY DYSON
Jim Williams joined the Army to get the kind of experiences his father had during World War II. It wasn't so much the war stories that appealed to him, although he certainly heard a lot about the Battle of the Bulge as a boy growing up in Westmoreland County. Williams wanted the camaraderie his dad described--and he found it in the Army. During 17 years of field exercises and deployments, Williams has relished being elbow-to-elbow with soldiers in the jungles of Panama or the foxholes of Iraq. "It's a good time because you get to know what people are really made of," said Williams, who spent three years as a recruiter in Fredericksburg. But times haven't been so good lately for the 37-year-old who's traveled the world in an Army uniform. Sgt. 1st Class James H. Williams faces a court-martial for actions during the war in Iraq. He's charged with armed robbery for taking a vehicle from a rich tribal sheik in April 2003, when his platoon was near Mosul and had mechanical problems with their Humvees. He's also been charged with dereliction of duty for letting his men drink in May after President Bush went on national television and declared from an aircraft carrier that major combat was over. Williams, stationed with the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Ky., will plead innocent at his arraignment tomorrow. If found guilty at his general court-martial, probably in June, Williams would face up to 15 years in military prison. He would be convicted of a felony and dishonorably discharged. Friends and family members say the charges don't fit the crime--or the soldier. "He's getting railroaded," said Daniel Shumac, a Woodbridge contractor who served with Williams and spent 20 years in the Army. "None of this passes the common-sense test," Shumac added. "They're trying to wreck this guy, and for what purpose I don't know. He was just doing what he had to do to get the job done." The Army says Williams, a platoon sergeant with the 326th Engineer Battalion, violated the rules of engagement when he and his soldiers took the 2001 Toyota Land Cruiser.
Date published: 4/25/2004
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