Current:Home > ScamsFamily of Black World War II combat medic will finally receive his medal for heroism -VitalWealth Strategies
Family of Black World War II combat medic will finally receive his medal for heroism
View
Date:2025-04-16 10:00:23
WASHINGTON (AP) — Waverly B. Woodson Jr., who was part of the only African American combat unit involved in the D-Day invasion during World War II, spent more than a day treating wounded troops under heavy German fire — all while injured himself. Decades later, his family is receiving the Distinguished Service Cross he was awarded posthumously for his heroism.
Woodson, who died in 2005, received the second-highest honor that can be bestowed on a member of the Army in June, just days before the 80th anniversary of Allied troops’ landing in Normandy, France.
His widow, Joann, his son Steve and other family will be presented with the medal Tuesday during a ceremony in Washington hosted by Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen.
The award marked an important milestone in a yearslong campaign by his widow, Van Hollen and Woodson’s supporters in the military who have pushed for greater recognition of his efforts that day. Ultimately, they would like to see him honored with the Medal of Honor, the highest military decoration that can be awarded by the U.S. government and one long denied to Black troops who served in World War II.
If Woodson is awarded the Medal of Honor, it would be the “final step in the decades-long pursuit of justice and the recognition befitting of Woodson’s valor,” Van Hollen said in a statement.
Troops from Woodson’s former unit, First Army, took the Distinguished Service Cross — which is awarded for extraordinary heroism — to France and in an intimate ceremony laid the medal in the sands of Omaha Beach, where a 21-year-old Woodson came ashore decades earlier.
At a time when the U.S. military was still segregated by race, about 2,000 African American troops are believed to have taken part in the invasion that proved to be a turning point in pushing back the Nazis and eventually ending World War II.
On June 6, 1944, Woodson’s unit, the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion, was responsible for setting up balloons to deter enemy planes. Two shells hit his landing craft, and he was wounded before even getting to the beach.
After the vessel lost power, it was pushed toward the shore by the tide, and Woodson likely had to wade ashore under intense enemy fire.
He spoke to the AP in 1994 about that day.
“The tide brought us in, and that’s when the 88s hit us,” he said of the German 88mm guns. “They were murder. Of our 26 Navy personnel, there was only one left. They raked the whole top of the ship and killed all the crew. Then they started with the mortar shells.”
For the next 30 hours, Woodson treated 200 wounded men — all while small arms and artillery fire pummeled the beach. Eventually, he collapsed from his injuries and blood loss, according to accounts of his service. At the time, he was awarded the Bronze Star.
In an era of intense racial discrimination, not a single one of the 1.2 million Black Americans who served in the military during World War II was awarded the Medal of Honor. It wasn’t until the early 1990s that the Army commissioned a study to analyze whether Black troops had been unjustly overlooked.
Ultimately, seven Black World War II troops were awarded the Medal of Honor in 1997.
At the time, Woodson was considered for the award and he was interviewed. But, officials wrote, his decoration case file couldn’t be found, and his personnel records were destroyed in a 1973 fire at a military records facility.
Woodson’s supporters believe not just that he is worthy of the Medal of Honor but that there was a recommendation at the time to award it to him that has been lost.
veryGood! (36343)
Related
- Sam Taylor
- San Francisco 49ers fire defensive coordinator Steve Wilks three days after Super Bowl 58 loss
- These Are the Must-Have Pet Carriers for Jet-Setting With Your Fur Baby—and They’re Airline-Approved
- Gunfire at Chiefs’ Super Bowl celebration kills 1 and wounds nearly two-dozen, including children
- 'No Good Deed': Who's the killer in the Netflix comedy? And will there be a Season 2?
- US applications for jobless benefits fall as labor market continues to show resilience
- One Dead, Multiple Injured in Shooting at Kansas City Super Bowl Parade
- When will the Fed cut interest rates in 2024? Here's what experts now say and the impact on your money.
- US appeals court rejects Nasdaq’s diversity rules for company boards
- How to make overnight oats: Use this recipe for a healthy grab-and-go breakfast
Ranking
- Olympic men's basketball bracket: Results of the 5x5 tournament
- 3 police officers shot at active scene in D.C. when barricaded suspect opened fire
- Hiker kills rabid coyote with his bare hands after attack in New England woods
- 60-year prison sentence for carjacker who killed high school coach in Missouri
- Intel's stock did something it hasn't done since 2022
- Hundreds of nonprofit newsrooms will get free US election results and graphics from the AP
- Human remains and car found in creek linked to 1982 cold case, North Carolina police say
- 'Gin and Juice' redux: Dre, Snoop collab on pre-mixed cocktail 30 years after hit song
Recommendation
In ‘Nickel Boys,’ striving for a new way to see
'Young Sheldon' Season 7: Premiere date, time, where to watch and stream new episodes
Panel investigating Maine’s deadliest shooting to hear from state police
Caitlin Clark fans can expect to pay hundreds to get in door for her run at record Thursday
Kansas City Chiefs CEO's Daughter Ava Hunt Hospitalized After Falling Down a Mountain
Every week is World Interfaith Harmony Week for devotees of Swami Vivekananda
Things to know about California’s Proposition 1
Avalanche kills 1 backcountry skier, leaves 2 others with head injuries in Alaska