Chief Warrant Officer Three John W. Williams died on 21 September 1981 when a U. S. Air Force C-130 he was a passenger on crashed short of the runway at the Indian Springs Air Force Auxiliary Base in Nevada. The C-130 was on a night vision goggles training mission when the fuel tanks ruptured, causing a post- crash fire. The fire eventually reached smoke grenades and flares that were carried on the mission, which caused flames to reach 20-25 feet. The plane burned for several hours. Of the nine crew members and 59 passengers onboard, there were seven fatalities; CW3 Williams and six Army Rangers from 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment.

CW3 Williams was a Cobra pilot in Vietnam where he survived being shot down by a B40 rocket. Upon his return from Vietnam in 1973, he was assigned as a Cobra pilot to Delta Troop, 1/4 CAV, 1st Infantry Division. According to his close friends, John was an excellent pilot and the kind of person you wanted to be with in good times and bad. CW3 Williams was a Founding Night Stalker. At the time of his death, he was assigned to Bravo Company, 229th Aviation Battalion at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, flying the AH-6 helicopter.

CW3 Williams is survived by his wife, Jeri; sons, John and Christopher, daughter, Leah; and sisters, Joan and Stella. He is laid to rest in Ozark, Alabama, at Woodlawn Memorial Gardens.