Nearly 20 years after his death, African American World War II veteran Waverly B. Woodson Jr., who treated wounded troops under heavy fire during the D-Day invasion, was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. His widow, Joann, received the award on Capitol Hill surrounded by family and supporters who continue to advocate for him to be awarded the Medal of Honor.
Woodson's 95-year-old widow, Joann, was presented Tuesday with the Distinguished Service Cross he was awarded posthumously for his extraordinary heroismWaverly B. Woodson Jr., who was part of the only African American combat unit involved in the D-Day invasion during World War II, spent more than a day treating wounded troops under heavy German fire — all while injured himself.
Steve Woodson offers remarks during a ceremony to posthumously award the Distinguished Service Cross to his father, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Waverly Woodson Jr. on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. Woodson, who died in 2005, received the award just days before the 80th anniversary of Allied troops’ landing in Normandy, France. First Army troops took the Distinguished Service Cross with them to France in June and in an intimate ceremony laid the medal in the sands of Omaha Beach, where a 21-year-old Woodson had come ashore decades earlier.
After the vessel lost power, it was pushed toward the shore by the tide, and Woodson likely had to wade ashore under intense enemy fire.“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.
Speaking after the ceremony to The Associated Press, Steve Woodson said it wasn’t until 50 years after the invasion and his father had returned from an anniversary ceremony in France that he started to share memories of that day.
D-Day World War II Medal Of Honor Distinguished Service Cross African American Veteran
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