Because of Lieutenant Williams’s accomplishments, the New Jersey Air National Guard has created the Lieutenant Thomas E. Williams Leadership Award for New Jersey high school students.  The award recognizes students, who display strong personal character, evidence of citizenship, leadership, and dedication in the battle against intolerance. 

 Williams enlisted in the Army Air Force in 1942 and entered pilot training at Tuskegee Army Airfield, Alabama.  Following his separation from active duty, Williams joined the Air Force Reserve and continued his education at Temple, Rutgers and Cornell Universities.  When the United States became involved in the Korean conflict, Williams returned to active duty and immediately volunteered for combat duty.  He was assigned to Bolling Air Force Base, Washington, D.C.  and attended Instructor’s school at Craig Air Force Base, in Selma, Ala.  On June 23, 1953, while commuting in full uniform from Eglin Field, Fla., Williams politely declined to yield his seat – third from the back of the bus – and move to the extreme rear of the bus.  He was charged under the Jim Crow laws with “being of one race and willfully occupying a seat reserved for another race.”  The Florida judge referred the matter to a higher court and released Williams.  Local  law enforcement officers, unhappy with the decision, charged Williams with speeding in the next town.  This led to Williams receiving a letter of reprimand and eventually being discharged under the reduction in force program.

Williams met with the NAACP’s special counsel, Thorgood Marshall, and pressed on with his challenge.  Marshall requested that Williams be returned to active duty.  Instead Williams joined the New Jersey Air National Guard on May 7, 1954, and became the first African American aviator in the New Jersey Air National Guard.  New Jersey was the first state to ban segregation in its National Guard.  Williams continued his challenge and testified before the Congress of the United States.   He was the first witness called during the proceedings where his eloquence and military bearing had a profound effect on the committee.  His testimony was instrumental in the passage of an amendment to the Interstate Commerce Act prohibiting the segregation of passengers on buses or other vehicles on the basis of race or color.  Williams died in a plane crash during a routine training mission on Jan. 15, 1955.  The cause of the mishap was never determined.