Black D-Day combat medic's long-denied medal tenderly laid on Omaha Beach where he bled, saved lives
A medal richly deserved but long denied to an African American combat medic wounded on Omaha Beach in the D-Day landings has been tenderly laid on the hallowed sands where he saved lives and shed blood Waverly Woodson Jr. was awarded posthumously to the Distinguished Service Cross, the second-highest honor given to a member of the U.S. Army for extraordinary heroism during the D-Day landings in Normandy, France. The medal was laid on Omaha Beach where he came ashore and was wounded, where hundreds of American soldiers were killed. Woodson's battalion, the only African American combat unit on Omaha that day, was responsible for setting up high-flying inflatable balloons to prevent enemy planes from attacking Allied forces. The next step will be the presentation of the medal to Woodson’s widow, 95-year-old Joann.
Published : 11 months ago by John Leicester | AP in World
OMAHA BEACH, France — A medal richly deserved but long denied to an African American combat medic wounded on Omaha Beach in the D-Day landings was tenderly laid Friday on the hallowed sands where he saved lives and shed blood. U.S. First Army soldiers held a ceremony in honor of Waverly Woodson Jr. on the beach where he came ashore and was wounded, and where hundreds of American soldiers were killed by withering fire in the June 6, 1944, landings in Normandy, northern France.
The Distinguished Service Cross is the second-highest honor that can be bestowed on a member of the U.S. Army and is awarded for extraordinary heroism.
The medal was awarded posthumously to Woodson this month — just ahead of the 80th anniversary of D-Day — following years of lobbying for more recognition of his achievement on that fateful day.
U.S. First Army Maj. Gen. William Ryan gently placed the World War II-era medal on the sand, close to the spot where Woodson is thought to have come ashore on the now-peaceful beach that on D-Day was raked by German machine-gun and artillery rounds before U.S. forces finally captured it and started pushing inland.
U.S. First Army historian Capt. Kevin Braafladt explained to the soldiers that the next step would be the medal’s presentation to Woodson’s widow, 95-year-old Joann. It will be given to his family in a ceremony later this summer.
“We want to be able to say that this medal came from Omaha Beach and was at the site of Woodson’s actions,” Braafladt said.
“Understanding my position as an African American and to learn about Corporal Woodson and everything he experienced here on Omaha and in Normandy is very touching to me, and to be here in the exact spot, it’s just historic,” Williams said. “It’s very, very touching.”
Woodson’s battalion, the only African American combat unit on Omaha that day, was responsible for setting up high-flying inflatable balloons to prevent enemy planes from buzzing over the beach and attacking the Allied forces.
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 D-Day invasion.
“I’ve got chills,” he said. “My father is receiving a lot of attention that is long overdue. It’s almost beyond words for me to describe how important this is for my family.”
Waverly Woodson himself spoke to the AP in 1994 about how his landing craft came under intense fire from German gunners as it approached the beach.
”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,” Woodson said in the interview.
For the next 30 hours he treated 200 wounded men while under intense small arms and artillery fire before collapsing from his injuries and blood loss, according to accounts of his service. At the time he was awarded the Bronze Star.