ALTON - Art Williams is a World War II veteran who served in the United States Army from December 1942 to December 1945.
He was one of five WWII veterans who are going to be marshals in the year’s Alton Memorial Day Parade. Williams has been participating in the parade for a while now.
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The parade has been going on for over 150 years, making it one of the longest-running in the country. Because of that Art thinks it’s very significant locally.
He said that his favorite parts about the parade are greeting the crowd and handing out candy to the kids lined the streets.
He mentioned that WWII veterans are hard to come by with every passing year.
“There aren’t many of us left,” Williams said.
“It certainly was an interesting generation with the war.”
He recalls growing up in Oregon where he didn’t have electricity or a telephone until he was 13. Not long after that, he started at Oregon State University where he lived with seven other men.
He remembers he was 19 years old during the attack on Pearl Harbor and mentioned that all eight of them that lived together joined the service together.
Art has been in the parade since 2016 and is looking forward to once again participating.
