U. S. Army to dedicate arsenal health clinic to WWII African American medic

U. S. Army officials will formally dedicate the U.S. Army Health Clinic at Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, at 10 a.m. Thursday, April 14.The clinic will be known as the Woodson Health Clinic, in honor of a World War II medic who served with First Army and saved countless lives during the Allied Invasion of Normandy.

Staff Sgt. Waverly B. Woodson, a Medal of Honor nominee, was assigned to the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion, the Army’s only African American unit to storm the beach on D-Day a news release says.

According to congressional records, at about 9:30 a.m. on June 6, 1944, Woodson was headed ashore aboard a tank landing ship when it was damaged by a floating mine. The vessel lost power and faced a barrage of enemy mortar and machine-gun fire as it drifted ashore. He sustained a number of shrapnel wounds from the attack before making it to the shelter of an embankment up the beach.

After a quick dressing of his wounds by a fellow Soldier, Woodson established a first aid station and began treating other wounded Soldiers. As the battle raged on, he worked for 30 hours straight, treating bullet abrasions, intestinal wounds, setting limbs and other aid for his fellow Soldiers and saved an estimated 200 lives before he was relieved to get rest, records show.

As he headed down the beach to gather bedding, Woodson was flagged down and requested to assist three Soldiers pulled from a submerged tank landing ship. Woodson provided artificial respiration until the Soldiers could breathe on their own. Later, he and other wounded, ill and injured Soldiers were evacuated to a hospital ship for further medical treatment. After three days, Woodson requested to return to the front lines.

For his heroic actions, Woodson was nominated for an appropriate award. At the time he received the Bronze Star, but since then, bipartisan congressional bills H.R. 8194 and S. 4535 have been introduced to posthumously award Woodson the Medal of Honor. Army officials chose to name the health clinic on Rock Island, home to First Army, in honor of the combat medic. 

Located in Building 110 on the Arsenal, the clinic provides primary care services for more than 1,940 Military Health System beneficiaries, including active duty Soldiers, retirees and family members. It supports multiple RIA commands to include First Army, U.S. Army Sustainment Command, Army Contracting Command – Rock Island, Joint Munitions Command, Rock Island Arsenal Joint Manufacturing and Technology Center, U.S. Army Garrison Rock Island Arsenal, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Rock Island District, and other units. The team operates an occupational health clinic for civilian employees in addition to an industrial hygiene cell, supporting approximately 8,100 civilian employees, as well as military workers.

Congressional Black Caucus wants posthumous Medal of Honor for African American soldier

The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) is pushing for an African American soldier to be posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on D-Day.

The CBC, along with Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), sent a letter to acting Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy Wednesday asking him to open a formal review of Cpl. Waverly B. Woodson Jr., an Army medic assigned to the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion. They said he continued to work to save lives for 30 hours on Omaha Beach after he was wounded.

“Cpl. Woodson went above and beyond the call of duty by spending 30 grueling hours saving the lives of dozens, if not hundreds, of his fellow soldiers,” the letter reads. “Cpl. Woodson was a war hero who has been inadequately recognized for his actions on D-Day.”

The letter’s signatories say he was not awarded for his bravery “because of the color of his skin.”

“We respectfully ask the Army to rectify this historic injustice and appropriately recognize this valorous Veteran with a posthumous recommendation for the Medal of Honor,” they wrote.

Read the letter below:

Woodson Letter Final Signed by Anonymous ROQg9Z on Scribd

[SOURCE: THE HILL]

He Served With D-Day’s Only African-American Combat Unit. His Widow Is Still Fighting for His Medal of Honor

Seventy-five years after American troops landed in smoke, fire and chaos on the beaches of Normandy, France, a Maryland woman is fighting for recognition for her late husband, who is likely D-Day’s last unsung hero.

Corporal Waverly “Woody” Woodson Jr., was a 21-year-old medic from West Philadelphia when he splashed down in four feet of churning sea and waded toward Omaha Beach around 9 a.m. on the morning of June 6, 1944.

Woodson was wounded, hit by burning shrapnel that raked his landing craft and ripped open his buttocks and thigh. The soldier next to him was killed. A medic slapped dressings on Woodson’s wounds, and they, along with three other medics in their crew, crept up the beach while crouched behind a tank. They were the first African-Americans to set their boots on Omaha Beach.

For the next 30 hours, Woodson would survive German snipers and his own searing pain to save scores of lives. Decades later, Woodson would learn that he had been nominated for the Medal of Honor.

But he would not receive it, not even when President Bill Clinton belatedly awarded the nation’s highest award for valor in 1997 to seven black soldiers who’d been denied their D-Day decorations by an Army afflicted by institutional racism. “History has been made whole today,” Clinton said.

Woodson’s white marble gravestone at Arlington National Cemetery is inscribed with his final Army rank — staff sergeant — and his decorations, the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star, the fourth-highest award for bravery.

Waverly Woodson died in 2005 but his widow, Joann Woodson, who turned 90 on May 26, has made it her mission to see that her husband’s heroism is acknowledged. “I will fight for him as long as I live,” Woodson said from her home in Clarksburg, outside Washington, D.C.

Read more: He Served With D-Day’s Only African-American Combat Unit. His Widow Is Still Fighting for His Medal of Honor