Illinois Veteran Jim Williams Credits VA for Turning his Health Around

Williams is one of six children, with one older sister and four younger brothers. Their mother suffered a nervous breakdown when he was 10 and she never recovered, forcing them all to live with other family members. Williams and his 9-year-old brother were taken in by his godparents as they awaited admission to Father Flanagan’s Boys Town in Nebraska for at-risk children. His other siblings stayed with their grandparents in northern Wisconsin. 

“If there was a foundation, Boys Town was it,” Williams said. “I adapted because of the positive, loving and enthusiastic environment.”

Always ready to work instead of sitting, Williams dropped out of high school in the late 60’s, earned his GED and joined the Army with an MOS 91-C (combat medic). He finished boot camp at the top of his class as an E2 holdover and shortly after was promoted to E3 with acting corporal stripes as he assisted six drill sergeants with a direct report to the supply sergeant. 

“I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished in my career, but I’m ashamed of some of the things I did,” Williams remembers. “I was not a good kid.” 

His work ethic and energy were never questioned, but his all-go, nonstop approach got him into trouble during and after the military. He was once accused of stealing an M-16 and a 45 handgun while on active duty. The truth came out in the end, but not before it caused a breakdown of his own, even punching the person who falsely accused him. 

Williams spent a few days in the stockade, accused of pulling the latrine out of the wall and eventually taken to the old Walson Army Hospital at Fort Dix, New Jersey, never making it to AIT. He says he was over medicated in solitary confinement with hand and feet restraints for weeks before the medication was reduced enough to be transferred to the locked ward of the nurse’s station. “It was similar to what Jack Nicholson experienced in the 1975 film “One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest,” he said. 

Once the truth came out regarding the alleged stolen weapons, he was able to recover some in rehabilitation mode, eventually going home on passes, working at the PX and preparing for discharge. 

After being medically discharged, Williams struggled with substance abuse – so much so that he found himself on the streets of Pennsylvania. His family tracked him down and found a short-term fix, at least enough to get him back to Wisconsin where he used his GI Bill for a 6-month certification in meat technology at Southwest Wisconsin Technical College. “It included everything from slaughtering to sausage making,” Williams said. “I learned how to break down rail beef to halves and quarters, boning and cutting middle and outer meats, portion cutting, merchandising, etc.”

He continued towards marketing degrees at Wisconsin Indianhead (now Northwoods) Technical College and the University of Wisconsin-Stout. During the summer of 1980, Williams was hired by Food Network Chef Emeril Lagasse to install an in-house meat processing center in Cable, Wisconsin. 

It was during his second job as a security guard when he met his wife, Gail. Marrying in 1982 and focusing on his career allowed him to put his past issues in the rearview mirror. He quit alcohol in 1984 and drugs in 1987. 

“My career just blossomed,” Williams said. “I went from selling drugs to food service distribution sales, training sales representatives, teaching food service distributors how to effectively sell their product, to  eventually owning and operating a delicatessen called the Corned Beef and Pastrami House.”

After selling the deli, he continued to a career track in the food industry, both retail and foodservice with an emphasis on the sales and marketing “center of plate” (meat, poultry, seafood), moving around the U.S as he climbed the ladder with each company. 

Williams retired in 2009 looking to improve his mental and physical health after his business travel and six relocations. Shortly after retiring, his neighbor, a fellow Army Veteran, noticed him losing his balance and gaining weight. 

“He asked to see my DD214,” Williams said. “The next day, he took me to our CVSO and told me to wait there until someone came out to help me and then ask for health benefits. It was the best thing that ever happened to me.”

When VA talks about the Whole Health philosophy of finding “what’s important to you” to guide health care and treatment, Williams took it to heart. He entered VA health care weighing 267 pounds and using a walker. He’s struggled with anxiety, depression, PTSD, neuropathy, sciatica, COPD, arthritis and much more. But he’s battled to improve it all.

Today, he’s 164 pounds, works out twice a day and takes full advantage of VA benefits he's earned, including the Move program, yoga, mindfulness, Tai Chi, smoking cessation and acupuncture, to name a few. He was diagnosed with chronic PTSD and connected to mental health resources and practices that he still follows today. 

“The doctor helped me with several events that had happened in my life before, during and after the military. He had me drill down to each event and process them.” 

Through his ups and downs, no matter how great or terrible life seemed, he’s had one constant– his bride of 43 years, Gail.

He still recalls the first time he noticed her reading a romance paperback. He knew immediately she was “the one” and remains smitten today. “She was so beautiful. She’s the best thing that ever happened to me. She’s the opposite of me – she’s laid back, yet she’s owned businesses, she took care of the kids. She’s the rock in the family. There’s no question about it.”

There’s also no question that he’s taken that love and support from his wife and pays it forward to others throughout the community. Although “retired,” he volunteers about 40 hours a week in a variety of roles with the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater wheelchair basketball program, Paralyzed Veterans of America-Wisconsin, National Veterans Wheelchair Games, the Special Olympics USA and Wisconsin chapter, Make-A-Wish Wisconsin, and the Boys Town National Alumni Association, to name a few. 

He advocates for Veterans and takes that role seriously. He’s worked as a travel ambassador at the Wisconsin Welcome Center - Beloit, with other retirees welcoming travelers from all over the world into Wisconsin.   

And, you’re not going to find someone who wants to champion VA health care as much as Jim Williams. He rallied a group of Veterans to purchase and donate signs to the Madison VA Hospital and each of its clinics in Wisconsin and Illinois. 

“I have an emotional need to express my appreciation from the directors on down for all they've done for me and other Vets. I was listened to and understood by a community that understands Veterans. Thank you to all the employees, volunteers and associates of the Madison VA Hospital and Clinics in Wisconsin and the Illinois state line area for all that each of you do.” 

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