Montel Williams on Faith, Patriotism, and the Untold Story Behind His New Book
When you say the name Montel Williams, many will think of him as a talk show host or even from some of the commercials people have seen him on; however, Williams wants to be known as a man who values his faith and this country.
In a sit-down interview with Crosswalk Headlines, Williams says that faith has gotten him through life, especially in dealing with his MS diagnosis and his love for this country, in which he served for twenty-two years in the Marines and US Navy. Williams has written a new book titled The Sailing of the Intrepid: The Incredible Wartime Voyage of the Navy's Iconic Aircraft Carrier―A World War II Military History Book. In this book, he uncovers a story few people have heard about.
Crosswalk Headlines: Where were you when you knew you had to write this incredible book on the 1944 US Intrepid?
Montel Williams: David Fisher, who's one of our nation's treasurers as far as authors go, was thinking about doing this book, and told his wife that he wanted to collaborate with somebody. David's wife said he should collaborate with me. He reached out to me, and I said yes, of course. It's a great story, and many people don't know much about it. After saying yes, we put the metal to the pedal and didn't look back.
CWH: I'm sure you get asked to do a lot of projects. Why this one?
MW: I've spent a lot of time with the Intrepid. I have a personal history with the Intrepid, the founder of the Intrepid Museum, who's there now, Ken Fisher. His uncle, Zachary Fisher, was the guy who actually purchased the Intrepid and talked to the mayor of New York City about putting it on the West Side Highway. I knew about its history because I've walked the ship several times and gone through its changes and updates for nearly sixteen years. It was an easy story to tell for me.
CWH: Why do you think the American public needs to know about this story?
MW: When we look at what we're going through as a nation right now, you have people from all over the country with different attitudes, different opinions, different things; they can't come together on even a single issue, and not even being able to come together when it comes to a national catastrophe. I'm talking about a time that harkens back to when America remembered it was America, where we all worked together to accomplish things, no matter our backgrounds. It proved that no matter who you are, where you're from, you know, when struck with a devastating catastrophe, if we come together, we can solve a problem rather than just let the problem ride out.
CWH: How has your faith guided you?
MW: You know, when I was diagnosed with MS, it was more of a blessing than a journey for me. Clearly, God doesn't put things you can't handle on your shoulders. So, God picked the shoulders to put it on the person who could handle it rather than sit back and go as woe as me, I try to figure out ways to help other people like myself, you know, continue to thrive rather than to, you know, fall victim to a name or a title. I suffered a severe hemorrhagic stroke in 2018, something that normally kills most of the people who have the type of stroke I had. Through that, God gave me the will to fight harder.
Photo Credit: ©Instagram/@montel_williams
Originally published August 04, 2025.
