Army 1st Lt. Derwin I. Williams

Died July 6, 2009 Serving During Operation Enduring Freedom

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41, of Glenwood, Ill.; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 106th Cavalry Regiment, Illinois National Guard, Dixon, Ill.; died July 6 in Khanabad, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle.

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Williams served for 16 years

The Associated Press

GLENWOOD, Ill. — A 16-year veteran of the Illinois Army National Guard has been killed while serving in Afghanistan.

Derwin Williams, 41, of Glenwood was killed July 6 when his vehicle hit a roadside bomb in Konduz. His wife, Felicia Williams, says the military informed her of his death that evening.

Williams worked as a correctional officer with the Cook County sheriff’s office. His wife says he’d served in Iraq for one year in 2004 and was slated to return from his tour in Afghanistan in August.

In addition to his wife, Williams is survived by three daughters, aged 22, 18 and 9.

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Drill instructor had a soft spot for his men

The Associated Press

Derwin Williams was a correctional officer and worked as a drill instructor in the Cook County (Ill.) Sheriff’s Boot Camp, a strict detention program based on military discipline in Chicago.

But he had a soft spot, not only for his own children but for some of the men in the program.

The boot camp’s executive director, John Harrington, said Williams often became a father figure for the inmates, some of whom never had relationships with their own fathers.

“His kindness and soft-spoken manner had a great impact on everyone here,” Sheriff Thomas Dart said. “He will be greatly missed.”

Williams, 41, of Glenwood, Ill., died July 6 when his vehicle hit a roadside bomb in Afghanistan. A member of the Illinois Army National Guard based in Dixon, Williams had served a yearlong tour in Iraq in 2004 and was slated to return from Afghanistan in August, his wife said.

Felicia Williams said her husband would often take three of his girls paintball shooting and to amusement parks. He also was nearby when homework help was needed.

“They talked to him a lot, they went to him for anything, they could talk to him about anything,” his wife said. “They were very close.”

Along with his wife, Williams is survived by two stepdaughters, ages 18 and 22; two daughters, who are 9 and 19; and an 8-year-old son.