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Westley Williams has had his fair share of challenges. The medaled Marine Corps veteran deals with post-traumatic stress disorder; he has gone through periods of homelessness and financial instability since his active service ended.

Although it would be easy to get discouraged, Mr. Williams knows one thing for sure: There's a higher power looking out for him.

He feels that way now and he felt that way back in 1979, when he was held hostage in the United States Embassy in Teheran, Iran.

As a Marine corporal, Mr. Williams served in security in the 1st Battalion 9th Marines, an infantry battalion, from 1977-83. He was stationed in Virginia, California, Parris Island, Buenos Aries, Japan and at the U.S. embassies in Iran and Argentina.

He also became a prisoner of war -- one of 66 people held by a group of Iranian students who took control of the embassy during the Iran hostage crisis.

Mr. Williams had been raised as a Catholic school student in Albany, although he attended a Methodist church. He was a member of the last graduating class at the former St. Joseph's School.

"My grandmother and my granduncle put their money together and they invested in me," Mr. Williams told The Evangelist. "Some people thought I would be a failure, [but] they believed in me."

Under seige
Right out of high school, Mr. Williams joined the U.S. Air Force. After being stationed in San Antonio, Tx., he came back home because of racial violence in the South. He volunteered at a U.S. Marine Corps recruitment center in downtown Albany until he was given the opportunity to join the Marines, where he eventually earned the rank of corporal, working at the U.S. embassy in Teheran, Iran.

On Nov. 4, 1979, Iranian students' outrage over Iran's deposed Shah being allowed to come to the United States for cancer treatment boiled over into violence. To show support for Ayatollah Khomeini, the Shia Muslim leader at the time, they broke through the embassy's gates and seized employees and diplomats inside.

Mr. Williams was held hostage from Nov. 4-20. He was one of about a dozen people of color and women who were released after that month-long ordeal. Another hostage was released in July 1980 due to illness. The remaining hostages were held for 444 days.

After he was released, Mr. Williams spent another six months being debriefed in Quantico, Va. He'd earned a prisoner of war medal.

Still serving

"I've been in bad scenes," the veteran remarked. "I think sometimes I need to meet bad people so I can stay on point."

Even now, when trouble happens, Mr. Williams says he's often the first one running to the rescue. He believes that helping people is often more important than his own safety -- and says he's guided by his faith, and by the inspiration of his late grandmother.

"I feel very well protected from above as long as I do the right things," Mr. Williams said, adding: "I'm scared of the Higher Power, but I'm more scared of my grandmother!"

The veteran has one daughter, Giada, who is a kindergartener at Sacred Heart School in Troy. An active parent, Mr. Williams is trying to build a strong future for his daughter.

School visit
Around Veteran's Day last November, he went to Sacred Heart to speak to students about his time in the military.

"He equated service to his country to the way we service others here at our school," recalled Susan Merrill, principal. "He talked about different ways to help in the community, whether it is Earth Day or something with the school."

Mr. Williams connected his service with Sacred Heart students' character education pledge; he also talked about the meaning of Veteran's Day and why he'd enlisted in the military.

Mrs. Merrill noted that the veteran didn't go into too much detail about the hostage crisis because of the age of his audience.

"I told them that they are in a good place," Mr. Williams said of his chat with the students. "They persevere and always respect people."[[In-content Ad]]

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