Williams, chronicler of World II tales, dies at 76

Thursday, Feb. 29, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Biff Williams was a World War II veteran with a passion for reuniting veterans.

Last June, he organized a national reunion in Las Vegas for the highly decorated Company I, 30th Regiment of the Army's 3rd Infantry -- his outfit.

Perhaps his favorite comrade in that company didn't attend the reunion, having passed away many years ago. Williams loved to tell stories of Pvt. Chips' heroics, including the time the dogface lad charged an enemy pillbox at Beach Blue near Licata on Sicily, in July 1943, saving the pinned-down company.

Then, Biff would surprise those who reveled in his tale by revealing that Chips was a German Shepherd. A movie later was made of the life of the heroic canine.

Bennie F. "Biff" Williams, a longtime government worker and a 10-year Las Vegas resident, died Friday at Desert Springs Hospital from an apparent heart attack. He was 76.

Services for the two-time Purple Heart recipient were held Wednesday at Palm Mortuary downtown. Burial was at the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City.

Was there for anybody

"Biff was always there to do anything for anybody -- he was real reliable," said longtime friend Jean Barnes. "You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who had anything bad to say about him."

Williams' wife of 51 years, Annette Williams, said her husband, a longtime San Francisco resident, loved the warm local climate, and was more than happy to move to Las Vegas on his wife's suggestion in 1986.

"We had visited friends here many times, so one day I told him I'd really like to live here," she said. "Biff said he'd sell the house and off we'd go."

In Las Vegas, Williams was known for his devotion to veterans causes. He founded the Society of the 3rd Infantry Division Outpost 77 and was a member of the Disabled American Veterans, Military Order of the Purple Heart, Veterans in Politics and the VFW.

Williams was host for the 3rd Infantry national convention in Las Vegas in 1986. His I Company reunion last year drew about 20 of the organization's 70 surviving members to the Imperial Palace.

"You could depend on the guys on both sides of you," Williams said about his combat experience in I Company during an interview before last year's convention. "You knew they would not let you down."

Wounded twice in Italy

Williams spent the final days of the war in a veterans hospital after being wounded at Anzio in 1944. He also was wounded at Sicily in 1943.

After the war, Williams worked as a machinist, then as a civilian at California military bases inventorying contracted supplies. He worked his way up from stocking shelves to being in charge of quality control.

Barnes said that of all the war stories Williams told, his favorites were of Chips. His account of the famed war dog's heroics was told in an article Williams wrote for the May 1988 issue of Purple Heart Magazine.

The story goes that Pvt. Chips and his partner, Pvt. John Rowell, were pinned down with the rest of the company, when Chips began running toward the rapid-fire guns, bullets spraying by him as he hit the enemy stronghold.

Suffering from a severely burned mouth and eye and a grazing bullet wound to the head, Chips clung desperately to one of two enemy soldiers trying to flee the machine-gun nest as Rowell, Williams and the rest of his I Company comrades rushed in to take prisoners.

Chips made sergeant

For his gallantry, Chips was promoted to sergeant and awarded the Purple Heart.

Last year, Williams, who had enjoyed good health through much of his life, underwent surgery to install a pacemaker.

Last Friday, Williams attended a computer seminar at Caesars Palace. He took ill and was rushed by ambulance to the hospital, where doctors tried to save the life of the man who disliked being called a war hero despite taking bullets on two occasions for his country.

In addition to his wife, Williams is survived by four sisters, Nancy Hawkins and Billie Stevens, both of Shreveport, La., Carol Sanford of Nashville, Tenn., and Bo of Michigan.

DONATIONS: In Williams' memory to Masonic Daylite Lodge 44.

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