By Mia Watkins | For the Birmingham Times
According to Roy Williams, people die two times: the day they take their last breath, and the day people stop talking about them. On the 25th anniversary of September 11, Williams is on a mission to make sure his brother, Dwayne Williams, lives forever.
“Seven people from Alabama died on 9/11,” he said. “The only one you consistently hear about every year on TV, whether it’s here in Birmingham, Montgomery or Mobile, is my brother, Army Major Dwayne Williams, because my mother, Pearl Williams, and I have made sure people never forget.”
Williams, who currently serves as director of public relations for the Birmingham Public Library, describes his brother, also known as Fish, as a very popular athlete in their hometown of Jacksonville. Dwayne was also a man of firsts — he helped integrate Jacksonville City Schools and he was also his class’s first Black president.
“I lived all of my sports fantasies watching Dwayne,” Roy said. “He was the neighborhood softball home run hitter, he was a basketball guard and he was a star wide receiver.”
While they weren’t as close growing up, Roy said their relationship deepened while he was in college. Roy moved in with Dwayne during his summer internship, while Dwayne was wrapping up ranger school at Fort Benning in Georgia.
“I got to experience for the first time what military life was like,” Roy said. “I was kicking out on the back porch while he and his Army buddies smoked cigars, drank beers with him and heard Army stories. I got to know my niece and nephew. Our relationship took off. I watched him jump out of airplanes.”
Dwayne even stepped in to be Roy’s best man when Roy’s twin brother, Troy, couldn’t. The two brothers and their wives traveled together to places such as Egypt. Dwayne inspired Roy’s ‘Believe in Yourself/Be You” tattoo on his forearm because that’s what he would always tell Roy growing up.
“He was the person I could count on about marriage and parenting when my wife and I finally had kids,” Roy said. “He was just the ultimate big brother.”
10 Days of Hell
Dwayne was at his post in the Pentagon mere weeks after accepting a new position. He switched break times with another major. She survived. Dwayne was in the second ring of the Pentagon when the plane hit. He was missing for 10 days before they found his body. Roy describes those days as the worst of his life.
“I was mad at God,” he said. “I used to say, ‘God, why’d you let this happen when there are so many evil people walking this Earth? He was a good man.’ He got a job at seemingly the safest place in the world — he used to jump out of airplanes — and you get the job at the Pentagon, then the plane crashed into it.”
Roy said the first 20 or so years were difficult for the family. Roy doesn’t mention Dwayne’s widow and his children’s names to protect their privacy.
“Dwayne died a very public death,” he said. “I relive it every year on Sept. 11. I can’t escape it. I’ve spoken about it because I choose to. My brother’s widow and children don’t come to these events because, as tough as it was for me as a brother, I wasn’t with him every day like they were.”
Roy dealt with his grief by writing the book “911, God Help Us.” His mother also wrote her own children’s book, “A Hero Called Fish”, and established a scholarship fund in Dwayne’s honor that focuses on high school seniors in Jacksonville. Dwayne’s wife also established a scholarship in his name at the University of North Alabama, his alma mater.
After their mother’s Alzheimer’s disease began progressing, Roy made a promise to carry on Dwayne’s legacy. On the 23rd anniversary of Dwayne’s death, Roy organized a memorial concert to raise funds for a bronze bust of his brother to be housed in Trussville’s Alabama Fallen Warrior Monument. Now, he has a place nearby to remember his brother.
“Dwanye is buried in Arlington National Cemetery in D.C.; my hometown is 75 minutes away,” he said. “This is 10 minutes away from my home. I can go there and quietly reflect on Dwayne.”
Remembering How He Lived
Roy said he’s at peace with his brother’s death.
“I can talk with a smile and focus on the fond memories instead of how he died,” he said. “I couldn’t say that 10 or 15 years ago. It took me a while to get here. That’s one thing with grief, do not judge people by how long it takes them to recover.”
This year, he’s taking it back to where it all began: Jacksonville.
Roy will host “Take the Day Back” on Sept. 11 starting at 11 a.m. at the Maj. Dwayne Williams Pentagon Memorial. The event will feature a keynote address from Lt. Col. Eddie Walker and reflections from others who knew Dwayne. Roy is also creating the Maj. Dwayne Williams Legacy Foundation to help families process grief.
“Anytime we’ve experienced loss, my focus will be to show people how to turn that around,” he said. “Instead of focusing on how they died, take the day back by focusing on how they lived.”
Ultimately, he wants people to remember his brother for the life he lived and to realize that freedom isn’t free.
He said, “The freedoms that so many of us take for granted were bought in blood, sweat and tears of people like my brother, Army Maj. Dwayne Williams.”
