By JOYANNA LOVE/Senior Staff Writer

Serving in the United States military is a tradition for Ocie Williams and his family.

His uncles Grady and Henry served in World War II. His brothers Ike and Joe served in the Korean War. His brother Larry was in the U.S. Army. His nephew George Alexander was killed while serving in Iraq.

Williams two sons have also served. One is a retired major. The other is an active duty master sergeant.

“These old country boys have a long history of serving in the military,” Williams said. “I think by being poor that was an opportunity to get ahead. I know Uncle Grady would always say, ‘You can go to school if you go in the Army.”

Williams said it was his stepfather Gaddis Jackson who had the greatest impact on his decision to serve in the Army.

“Daddy told me … ‘The army will take care of you,” Williams said.

Williams saw this demonstrated through the monthly check Jackson received from the Army for being a disabled veteran. Jackson served in World War II.

Williams joined the U.S. Army a month after graduating from the Chilton County Training School in May 1962. Williams said he served “24 years, 15 days and 15 minutes” before retiring.

Williams completed basic training at Fort Gordon, Georgia, then went to New Mexico for air defense training.

“I graduated from there and I was assigned to the Hercules command at the Boston Army base,” Williams said.

While there, he was promoted to sergeant.

Williams said things were tense when the United States blockade of Cuba because of Russian missiles being installed there.

“We didn’t get much sleep then because at any moment, we would be getting up practicing to fire that missile,” Williams said. “I guess that is the most tense time of my life because it looked like any moment we were going to war.”

In 1972, Williams was assigned to an infantry command in Germany for three years, achieving the rank of staff sergeant.

When Williams returned to the States, he was assigned to work on the AJAX nuclear missile in New Jersey. Here, he reached the rank of sergeant first class.

“That was a beautiful assignment, nerve racking, but that was a beautiful assignment,” Williams said. “If that siren went off, you had exactly three minutes to man the station … for a young country boy like I was, it couldn’t have been better.”

Williams said he was never deployed to Vietnam because he had “a secret clearance and nuclear training.”

In 1980, he was sent to Korea. He stayed a year before being assigned to a missile command at Fort Bliss, Texas.

Later, he was made an instructor of basic training students to teach map reading. He was also a teacher when stationed at Okinawa.

“I taught the new soldiers procedures on firing the missiles,” Williams said. “Thank God we never had to fire one, because that would have started a nuclear war. ”

Williams said he enjoyed Okinawa the best of the overseas assignments because of “the food, the camaraderie with the people, even among the villages at that time and they made you feel at home.”

When he returned to the States, he was assigned to Fort Campbell, Kentucky. It was here that Williams was assigned to an equal opportunity office to help address racial tensions through “race relation classes, coordinate on how to get along with one another, how to live in the community as respectful men and women.”

He worked with various Army equal opportunity offices until he retired.

He received an army commendation medal for his service.

Serving has not ended for Williams just because he is retired. He continues to serve the community as a member of the American Legion, Concerned Citizens of Chilton County and the Disabled American Veterans.