A black medic wounded on D-Day saved dozens of lives. He’s finally being honored posthumously

WASHINGTON: Medic Waverly Woodson Jr., a member of the only black combat unit to take part in the D-Day invasion of France during World War II, is being posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross in recognition of his courage and determination he displayed while treating soldiers under heavy enemy fire.

The Distinguished Service Cross is the second-highest decoration awarded to a member of the military and is given for extraordinary heroism.

The announcement was made Monday by Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen, who has been working with Woodson’s family for years to bring greater recognition to his exploits on that fateful day.

“This was a long time coming,” Van Hollen said during an interview with The Associated Press. “Woodson’s bravery on D-Day was heroic. We have many stories of what he did to save his fellow soldiers even though he was wounded. And so we, along with the family, have been looking for this honor for a long time.”

The announcement comes just days ahead of the 80th anniversary of the June 6 attack that led to the liberation of France and the rest of Western Europe from Nazi Germany.

Members of the First Army, which included Woodson’s unit during World War II, are taking his World War II-era Distinguished Service Cross with them to France. They will hold a ceremony on the Colleville-sur-Mer part of the beach, under the German battle position known as WN61 where Woodson tended to soldiers, and place the medal in the sand there. The medal will be presented to his family in a ceremony later this summer.

Woodson was just 21 when his unit, the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion, took part in the Allied operation. His battalion, the only African American combat unit present that day, was tasked with planting balloons to intercept enemy aircraft.

It is believed that at a time when the US military was still divided by race, about 2,000 African American soldiers took part in the D-Day invasion.

Woodson died in 2005. He told the AP in 1994 how his landing craft came under heavy fire from the Germans as they approached the beach.

“The tide brought us in, and that’s when the 88s attacked us,” he said of the German 88 mm guns. “They were murderous. Only one of our 26 Navy personnel survived. They blew the whole topside of the ship to smithereens and killed all the crew. Then they started firing mortar shells,” Woodson said.

Capt. Kevin Braflat, First Army historian, said two shells struck Woodson’s landing craft — LCT 856 — wounding him. The ship lost power and the tide pushed it toward shore. Woodson probably had to jump overboard to get to shore.

For the next 30 hours he treated 200 wounded men while coming under heavy small arms and artillery fire before he collapsed from his injuries and blood loss, according to his service description. He was awarded the Bronze Star at that time.

Although 1.2 million black Americans served in the military during World War II, none were among the original recipients of the Medal of Honor awarded in the conflict. The Army commissioned a study in the early 1990s to analyze whether black soldiers were unfairly overlooked during a period of widespread racism and segregation in the military. Ultimately, seven black soldiers from World War II were awarded the Medal of Honor in 1997.

At the time, Woodson was considered for the award and the authors interviewed him. But, they wrote, his decoration case file could not be found and his personnel records were destroyed in a fire at a military records facility in 1973. Woodson’s supporters believe that not only is he deserving of the Medal of Honor, but that he was recommended for the award at the time, which has been lost.

Braflat said the U.S. Army made a deliberate effort to reduce its massive amount of paperwork after the war. Countless documents were also destroyed in a fire at a military records facility in Missouri. But Braflat, who has been working on the Woodson case for nearly four years, said he has no doubt that Woodson absolutely deserved the Medal of Honor and was recommended for it at the time. He said it’s just a matter of finding the documents.

“The search is ongoing for me and the First Army,” he said.

Van Hollen’s office became involved in Woodson’s case several years ago, when Woodson’s wife sought Van Hollen’s assistance in getting Woodson the recognition he deserved.

“Waverly would have been honored to be recognized for doing what he knew best. But we all know it was more than a duty; it was always his desire to help those in need,” Joan Woodson said in the announcement from the senator’s office.

Woodson’s story is also being told as part of a four-part National Geographic docuseries called “Erased: WW2’s Heroes of Color.” The docuseries highlights the stories of people whose contributions were intentionally overlooked during that era of racism.

Van Hollen said he and Woodson’s family are still working on having Woodson awarded the Medal of Honor, but called being awarded the Distinguished Service Cross an “extremely important” moment.

“This moment is crucial to address this historical injustice and right this wrong,” Van Hollen said.

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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – Associated Press)