Waverly B. Woodson Jr.

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Waverly Bernard Woodson Jr.
Bronze Stars
  • Good Conduct Medal
  • Korean Service Medal
  • National Defense Service Medal
  • Purple Heart
  • United Nations Medal
  • World War II Victory Medal
    • Alma materLincoln University
    Spouse(s)
    Joann Katharyne Snowden
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1952)​
    Children3

    Waverly Bernard Woodson Jr. (August 3, 1922 – August 12, 2005) was an American

    Battle of Normandy in World War II
    .

    Life and military service

    Woodson's original official US Army portrait

    Waverly Bernard Woodson Jr. was born on August 3, 1922, in

    pre-med student.[3]

    After the entry of the United States into

    aptitude test, he joined the Anti-Aircraft Artillery Officer Candidate School, where he was one of only two African Americans. Before completing the course, Woodson was informed that he would not be able to be billeted in the United States Army Coast Artillery Corps due to his race.[1][5][6] As a result, he was retrained as a combat medic and assigned to the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion.[7] Woodson underwent training at Camp Tyson, the United States' barrage balloon training center in Paris, Tennessee, where he experienced segregation and discrimination.[8][9][10] By the time of Operation Overlord, he held the rank of corporal.[11][12][13] In advance of Operation Overlord, Woodson was deployed to England.[14]

    On June 6, 1944, the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion participated in the

    artificial respiration to the three men, reviving them. Woodson was subsequently hospitalized due to his wounds;[21][25] after three days on a hospital ship he requested to return to the front.[3]

    It has been estimated that Woodson's actions during the Battle of Normandy saved the lives of as many as 200 soldiers,[26] both black and white.[6] Woodson's commanding officer recommended him for a Distinguished Service Cross for his actions, but the office of general John C. H. Lee determined that Woodson's actions warranted the greater honor of a Medal of Honor.[11][27] United States Department of War special assistant to the director Philleo Nash proposed that President Franklin D. Roosevelt should give Woodson an award personally.[28][29] Woodson ultimately received a Purple Heart.[3][13][15][30][31] He was also approved to receive a Bronze Star Medal in 1945, but was never awarded it due to being redeployed out of Europe.[32][33] The Philadelphia Tribune wrote, "the feeling is prevalent among Negroes that had Woodson been of another race the highest honor [a Medal of Honor] would have been granted him."[34]

    Shortly after the Battle of Normandy, the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion was redeployed to the United States, where it underwent further training at

    Camp Stewart in Georgia.[24][35] The Battalion was then redeployed to Hawaii to prepare for Operation Downfall, which was cancelled upon the surrender of Japan in August-September 1945.[36] With the subsequent end of World War II, Woodson was moved to the United States Army Reserve.[37]

    Woodson initially hoped to study medicine, but was unable to find a medical school that would admit him as an African American.[38] He went on to complete his studies at Lincoln University,[39] graduating in 1950 with a degree in biology.

    Woodson was reactivated by the Army upon the outbreak of the

    autopsies.[7][25][38][40] During the Korean War, Woodson was promoted to the rank of staff sergeant.[32] Woodson left the Army in 1952.[41]

    Woodson married Joann Katharyne Snowden in 1952; the couple had two daughters and a son.[3][24]

    After leaving the Army,

    in-patient procedures. Woodson retired in 1980.[7][24]

    In 1994, Woodson was one of three veterans invited to visit Normandy by the Government of France to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the D-Day landings.[41] He was presented with a commemorative medallion.[24][25]

    Woodson died on August 12, 2005, in the Wilson Health Care Center in Gaithersburg, Maryland at the age of 83. He was buried with military honors in Arlington National Cemetery.[42] His papers were donated to the Langston Hughes Memorial Library Special Collections at his alma mater, Lincoln University.[43][10]

    Awards and decorations

    Combat Medic Badge
    in October 2023.

    Woodson received the following awards and decorations:

    Legacy

    Despite his acknowledged heroism,

    First United States Army Thomas S. James Jr. wrote in favor of Woodson receiving the Medal of Honor.[38] In August 2020, Woodson was approved for the Combat Medical Badge; in October 2023, he was posthumously awarded the Combat Medical Badge (and formally presented with his Bronze Star Medal from 1945) in a ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery attended by his widow, family, and friends along with military personnel, including the retired United States Army lieutenant generals Stephen Twitty and Thomas S. James Jr..[32][33][44]

    There is an exhibit at the visitor center of the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer, France concerning Woodson's actions during the Battle of Normandy.[49] A brick commemorating Woodson has been installed at the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Virginia.[49]

    In April 2022, the Rock Island Arsenal Health Clinic in Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois was renamed the Woodson Health Clinic in honor of Woodson. Woodson's son Stephen attended a ceremony to mark the renaming where he unveiled a portrait of Woodson.[25]

    Author Alan Gratz based the character Henry Allen in his 2019 novel Allies on Woodson.[6]

    References

    1. ^
      NPS.gov. National Park Service
      . Retrieved May 30, 2023.
    2. ^
      The Frederick News-Post (via Legacy.com
      ). August 30, 2005. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
    3. ^ a b c d e Fikes, Robert (October 7, 2017). "Waverley Bernard Woodson Jr. (1922-2005)". BlackPast.org. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
    4. ^
      ISBN 978-1-78603-627-8
      .
    5. ^
      ISBN 978-1-4456-6349-4
      .
    6. ^
      ISBN 978-1-338-24574-5
      .
    7. ^ a b c d e "Waverly Bernard "Woody" Woodson, Jr. - served as a U.S. Army combat medic on Omaha Beach, June 6, 1944" (PDF). Montgomery County. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
    8. ^ U.S. News & World Report. Vol. 120. 1996. p. 36.
    9. ^ Parkinson, Robert (March 1, 2018). "Camp Tyson". Tennessee Encyclopedia. Tennessee Historical Society. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
    10. ^
      ISBN 978-1-4671-2427-0
      .
    11. ^ a b c Rempfer, Kyle (July 3, 2019). "Lawmakers want this African-American soldier to posthumously receive the Medal of Honor for actions on D-Day". Army Times. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
    12. ^ Furr, Arthur (1947). Democracy's Negroes. House of Edinboro. p. 87.
    13. ^ a b This is Our War: Selected Stories of Six War Correspondents who Were Sent Overseas by the Afro-American Newspapers: Baltimore, Washington, Philadelphia, Richmond and Newark. Afro-American Company. 1945. p. 30.
    14. ^ a b c Thompson, William (June 5, 1994). "A day of courage and death seared into the memories of all who fought there". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
    15. ^
      ISBN 978-1-59884-428-3
      .
    16. ^
      Orange County Register
      . Retrieved January 31, 2022.
    17. ISBN 978-0-7864-3195-3
      .
    18. ISBN 978-0-8420-2115-9
      .
    19. ISBN 978-1-4738-2679-3
      .
    20. ^ Newman, Paul L. (June 6, 2022). "Remembering the D-Day heroism of a Black soldier from Philadelphia". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on June 6, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
    21. ^ a b United States Congress (1946). Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the 78th Congress, second session. Vol. 92. United States Government Printing Office. pp. A435–A436.
    22. ^ Knowlton, Brian (June 5, 2009). "Forgotten battalion's last returns to beachhead". The New York Times. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
    23. ^ Ryan, Kate (July 15, 2019). "Push continues to get Medal of Honor to 'Forgotten Hero' of World War II". Congressional Black Caucus. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
    24. ^
      History.com
      . Retrieved February 1, 2021.
    25. ^
      Army.mil
      . Retrieved May 18, 2022.
    26. ^ Chambless, J. (March 13, 2015). "Lincoln University honors a World War II hero". Chester County Press. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
    27. Newspapers.com
      ). p. 1. Retrieved February 1, 2021. Four Negro medics, lone survivors of a shipload of D-Day assaulters and the only medics who got through alive in their sections of the beaches of Normandy, were recommended this week for high decorations by their commanding general. [...] Cpl. Waverly Woodson, Jr., Philadelphia, Pa., medical technician.
    28. ^ Hervieux, Linda (November 11, 2016). "Remember D-Day's African-American soldiers on Veterans Day". NBC News. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
    29. ^ Meek, James Gordon; Hosenball, Alex (November 11, 2015). "'Negro' D-Day hero overlooked for Medal of Honor". ABC News. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
    30. ^
      ISBN 978-1-00-070960-5
      .
    31. ISBN 978-0-316-50778-3
      .
    32. ^ a b c d Adams, Matthew (October 11, 2023). "World War II medic honored at his Arlington gravesite with Bronze Star for his heroics on D-Day". Stars and Stripes. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
    33. ^
      Defense.gov. United States Department of Defense
      . October 11, 2023. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
    34. ISBN 978-0-8135-9755-3
      .
    35. ^ Ortiz, Miguel (June 6, 2020). "The unsung African-American heroes of D-Day". WeAreTheMighty.com. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
    36. ^ Santana, Rebecca (October 11, 2023). "A Black medic wounded on D-Day will be honored for treating dozens of troops under enemy fire". The Independent. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
    37. ^
      ISBN 978-0-06-226914-0
      .
    38. ^ a b c James Jr., Thomas S. (June 20, 2021). "77 years later, still seeking appropriate honor for a heroic Black medic on D-Day". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 31, 2022.
    39. ^ "The Lion 1949" (PDF). Lincoln University. 1949. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
    40. ^ a b c Beynon, Steve (September 8, 2020). "Lawmakers push for long-sought Medal of Honor for Black D-Day hero Woodson". Stars and Stripes. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
    41. ^ a b Moreira, Gabrielle (June 4, 2019). "D-Day: Widow of African-American soldier who served in only all-black unit fights for Medal of Honor". FOX 5 New York. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
    42. ^ "Woodson, Waverly B". ANC Explorer. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
    43. ^ "The Lincoln University honors World War II hero Waverly B. Woodson and receives historical collection". Lincoln University. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
    44. ^
      ArlingtonCemetery.mil
      . Retrieved January 12, 2024.
    45. ^ Saunders, John A. (1964). 100 Years After Emancipation: History of the Philadelphia Negro, 1787 to 1963. Free African Society. p. 166.
    46. ISBN 978-1-4766-0732-0
      .
    47. ^ "S.4535 - A bill to authorize the President to award the Medal of Honor to Waverly B. Woodson, Jr., for acts of valor during World War II". Congress.gov. 116th United States Congress (2019-2020). Retrieved February 1, 2021.
    48. ^ "H.R.8194 - To authorize the President to award the Medal of Honor to Waverly B. Woodson, Jr., for acts of valor during World War II". Congress.gov. 116th United States Congress (2019-2020). Retrieved February 1, 2021.
    49. ^ a b Sisk, Richard (November 8, 2023). "Medic in Black D-Day unit, long denied the Medal of Honor, gets wide backing for nation's highest military honor". Military.com. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
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