Assigned to the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion of the US First Army, Corporal Waverly B. Woodson, Jr. was a medic attached to the only all-Black unit to land in Normandy on D-Day. After his landing craft hit a mine, the Philadelphia-born, 21-year-old waded ashore—wounded himself by mortar shrapnel—and immediately began treating other injured men under heavy enemy gunfire.
Woodson worked for thirty consecutive hours, treating the bullet and shrapnel wounds of more than 200 men of the 29th Infantry Division. He even performed an emergency amputation before finally collapsing from his own wounds. Woodson was later awarded a Bronze Star and Purple Heart for his actions that day, but in 2024, a Distinguished Service Cross was also awarded, posthumously. The DSC is the nation’s second highest award for heroism, but many believe Woodson’s deeds were worthy of the Medal of Honor—the military’s highest decoration. Of note, not a single Black serviceman received the award during the war years. Woodson died in 2005 at the age of 83.
