Craig E. Williams (born c.1948) is an American army

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

veteran from

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

and co-founder of the

Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation The Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF),Veterans For America » ABOUT VF ...

. Williams was awarded the

Goldman Environmental Prize The Goldman Environmental Prize is a prize awarded annually to grassroots environmental activists. History Awardees are named from each of the world's six geographic regions: Africa, Asia, Europe, Islands and Island Nations, North America, an ...

in 2006 for his efforts on convincing

The Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The building was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As ...

to stop plans to incinerate decaying caches of chemical weapons stockpiled around the United States. The

Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation The Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF),Veterans For America » ABOUT VF ...

, along with other groups that formed

International Campaign to Ban Landmines The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) is a coalition of non-governmental organizations whose objective is a world free of anti-personnel mines and cluster munitions, where mine and cluster munitions survivors see their rights res ...

, received

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...

in 1997.

Early life and education

Williams served in the United States Army from 1968 to 1969, including a deployment to

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered Diplomatic recognition, international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the ...

during the

. He graduated from

Eastern Kentucky University Eastern Kentucky University (Eastern or EKU) is a public university in Richmond, Kentucky. It also maintains branch campuses in Corbin, Hazard, and Manchester and offers over 40 online undergraduate and graduate options. History Founding ...

in 1978. Williams was among the founders of the

Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation The Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF),Veterans For America » ABOUT VF ...

in 1980, and served at the organisation's board of directors for seventeen years.

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War Eastern Kentucky University alumni American veterans activists Activists from Kentucky Military personnel from Kentucky United States Army soldiers Goldman Environmental Prize awardees {{US-activist-stub