Robin Williams' Widow Honors 5th Wedding Anniversary With Moving Speech to Troops

Robin Williams' widow, Susan Schneider, paid tribute to her late husband on their wedding anniversary with a moving speech to troops.

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Susan Schneider honored her husband, the late Robin Williams, at a USO of Chicago event over the weekend. Williams was posthumously awarded the 2016 Angel Harvey Heart of a Patriot Award on the same day as the couple's fifth wedding anniversary, E! Newsreported. The award was given by troops in celebration of the beloved actor and comedian's dedication to servicemen and women during his career.

"Robin absolutely had the heart of a patriot," Schneider said Saturday. "I cannot think of a more fitting award for him, nor one that he would be more proud to receive, especially in the presence of all of you. Robin was also a warrior, and like so many of our finest servicemen and women, he had battles to face." Schneider said that her husband always respected and admired the strength of the troops he entertained, even as he battled a rare form of Lewy Body Dementia.

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"The devastation on Robin's brain from the Lewy bodies was one of the worst cases medical professionals have ever seen," Schneider explained. "Yet throughout all of this, his heart remained strong. He loved his time overseas with the troops. He loved camouflage, gear, and all things military. And he took seriously the idea of 'no man left behind.' When he was signing autographs—always sure to touch everyone's heart with a few words, a handshake, or a signature."

Williams committed suicide in August 2014, with Schneider later calling Lewy Body Dementia the "terrorist" inside her husband's brain. "During the final months we shared together, our sights were locked fast on identifying and vanquishing the terrorist within his brain," Schneider wrote in the Official Journal of the American Academy of Neurology in September. "Since then, I have continued our research but on the other side of that experience, in the realm of the science behind it."

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