Remembering the D-Day heroism of a Black soldier from Philadelphia
Waverly B. Woodson Jr. was an Army medic who saved dozens of soldiers on the beaches of Normandy. Recognizing him with the Congressional Medal of Honor is long overdue, writes Paul L. Newman.
On June 6, we honor those Americans and our allies whose landing on the beaches of Normandy began the 11-month ground campaign in Western Europe that defeated the Nazis. On June 6, Turner Classic Movies will sometimes broadcast The Longest Day or Saving Private Ryan, but if you watch either of these award-winning films, remember to use your imagination to see any Black faces.
We must never forget that on June 6, 1944, African American soldiers were dodging that same German firepower and taking the same risks as white soldiers. On D-Day, Black soldiers, who mostly were driving truckloads of essential supplies and matériel, landed on those same iconic beaches. Most African American soldiers were pigeonholed into certain service roles, but the all-Black 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion was an exception. The soldiers of the 320th launched barrage balloons to prevent German planes from strafing the beaches. Cpl. Waverly B. Woodson Jr., a native Philadelphian, was a combat medic in the 320th.
On D-Day, a mine floating in the English Channel damaged the landing ship transporting Woodson and members of his unit to Omaha Beach. The mine’s explosion lodged pieces of shrapnel near Woodson’s groin and back. After disembarking, Woodson’s wound was superficially bandaged. Woodson elected to stay with his fellow medics, Pvt. Warren Capers, Staff Sgt. Alfred Bell, and Cpl. Eugene Worthy, to set up a field dressing station on the beach. They treated all soldiers, regardless of race. They worked as German machine-gun fire and mortar rounds landed around them. Over the next 30 hours, their field dressing station tended to over 200 wounded soldiers. They removed bullets and shrapnel, set broken limbs, dispensed plasma, and even amputated a foot.
After working 30 hours without letup, Woodson was walking across Omaha Beach to get a bit of well-deserved rest and have his own wounds tended to when rescuers brought three soldiers ashore after they appeared to have drowned in the frigid waters of the English Channel. The rescuers spotted Woodson’s combat medic brassard and asked for his help. An utterly exhausted Woodson ignored his own need for medical treatment and rest, performed artificial respiration, and saved their lives.
Linda Hervieux, author of Forgotten: The Untold Story of D-Day’s Black Heroes, the definitive story of the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion, reported that there was some evidence that Woodson was recommended for a Congressional Medal of Honor for his selflessness on D-Day, but was instead awarded a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. No African American soldier received a Medal of Honor immediately after either World War.
In 1991, after a thorough investigation of the bravery of Cpl. Freddie Stowers — an African American hero of the First World War — President George H.W. Bush awarded him the Medal of Honor. Stowers’ belated award sparked questions of whether the Army withheld the Medal of Honor from the Second World War’s Black soldiers because of their race. A thorough investigation led President Bill Clinton, in 1997, to award our nation’s highest military honor to seven men. Woodson had been one of the soldiers whose record was reexamined, but his service record was incomplete, having been destroyed during a massive 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center, so he was not selected.
“I’m not sure how much more evidence is required for the Army to posthumously award Woodson the Medal of Honor.”
I’m not sure how much more evidence is required for the Army to posthumously award Woodson the Medal of Honor. The Congressional Record of Feb. 1, 1946, includes a report from the War and Navy Departments (which, in 1946, weren’t institutions advocating for racial equality and fairness) about the performance of African Americans during World War II. This nearly contemporaneous account specifically highlighted the bravery that Woodson demonstrated on June 6 and 7.
Sens. Pat Toomey (R., Pa.), Chris Van Hollen (D., Md.), and Cory Booker (D., N.J.), as well as members of the Congressional Black Caucus, are spearheading a campaign for Woodson to receive the Medal of Honor.
As we remember the heroes of D-Day, let’s hope that the Army remembers an almost forgotten one, corrects a 78-year omission, and finally presents Woodson’s Congressional Medal of Honor to his family.
Paul L. Newman is an amateur historian specializing in African American history of the first half of the 20th century.