Current:Home > FinanceFamily of Black World War II combat medic will finally receive his medal for heroism-DB Wealth Institute B2 Expert Reviews
Family of Black World War II combat medic will finally receive his medal for heroism
View Date:2024-12-23 20:43:48
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! (72)
Related
- Early Week 11 fantasy football rankings: 30 risers and fallers
- Judy Garland’s Wizard of Oz Ruby Slippers Up for Auction for $812,500 After Being Stolen by Mobster
- See President-Elect Donald Trump’s Family Tree: 5 Kids, 10 Grandkids & More
- How Jinger Duggar Vuolo Celebrated 8th Wedding Anniversary With Husband Jeremy Vuolo
- Jon Gruden joins Barstool Sports three years after email scandal with NFL
- Entourage Alum Adrian Grenier Expecting Baby No. 2 With Wife Jordan Roemmele
- AP Race Call: Republican Sheri Biggs wins election to U.S. House in South Carolina’s 3rd District
- Why Katharine McPhee, 40, and Husband David Foster, 75, Aren't Mourning Getting Older
- 1 million migrants in the US rely on temporary protections that Trump could target
- AP Race Call: Democrat Lois Frankel wins reelection to U.S. House in Florida’s 22nd Congressional District
Ranking
- Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul stirs debate: Is this a legitimate fight?
- Fossil from huge 'terror bird' discovered for the first time in Colombia
- Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani undergoes shoulder surgery to repair labrum tear
- Judy Garland’s Wizard of Oz Ruby Slippers Up for Auction for $812,500 After Being Stolen by Mobster
- Jana Duggar Reveals She's Adjusting to City Life Amid Move Away From Farm
- AP Race Call: Democrat Shomari Figures elected to US House in Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District
- 2 Republican incumbents lose in Georgia House, but overall Democratic gains are limited
- Republican Thomas Massie wins Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District
Recommendation
-
A pregnant woman sues for the right to an abortion in challenge to Kentucky’s near-total ban
-
Entourage Alum Adrian Grenier Expecting Baby No. 2 With Wife Jordan Roemmele
-
Can Colorado make College Football Playoff? Deion Sanders' Buffaloes land in first rankings
-
'He gave his life': Chicago police officer fatally shot in line of duty traffic stop ID'd
-
Kansas basketball vs Michigan State live score updates, highlights, how to watch Champions Classic
-
NY agencies receive bomb threats following seizure, euthanasia of Peanut the Squirrel
-
AP VoteCast: Voter anxiety over the economy and a desire for change returns Trump to the White House
-
Penn State Police investigating viral Jason Kelce incident with fan