OPINION:
Cpl. Waverly B. Woodson Jr., an African American combat medic, was wounded before setting down near Omaha Beach on D-Day (“80 years after D-Day the family of a Black World War II combat medic receives his medal for heroism,” web, Sept. 24).
His fellow medics treated his wound. Then, while braving German shelling and machine-gun fire, Woodson and his fellow Black combat medics set up a field dressing station where they treated wounds, administered transfusions and even amputated a foot.
After Woodson had worked 30 hours nonstop, some soldiers spotted his medic armband and motioned him over to tend to three unconscious English soldiers whom they had pulled from the freezing waters of the English Channel. Woodson successively resuscitated them before seeking his own treatment.
There are some contemporaneous records indicating that Woodson should have been recommended for the Medal of Honor, but it never happened. Instead, he received a Bronze Star, America’s fourth-highest military honor.
In the 1990s, the Clinton administration released a study showing how racism prevented deserving Black World War II-era soldiers from being awarded the Medal of Honor. The Army carefully reviewed its records and in 1997 awarded seven African American men that medal. Woodson was short-listed, but he wasn’t awarded the medal because almost all his military records were destroyed in 1973 in a massive records fire.
At a ceremony last week in the Russell Senate Office Building, Woodson’s widow and son were presented with the Distinguished Service Cross, our nation’s second-highest military award. In the words of former President Barack Obama, it’s never too late to say thank you.
PAUL L. NEWMAN
Merion Station, Pennsylvania
Please read our comment policy before commenting.