Joann Woodson receives the Bronze Star and Combat Medic Badge at Arlington National Cemetery on Oct. 11, 2023. Photo: Department of Defense
In an extraordinary ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on Oct. 11, the First Army honored the late Sgt. Waverly Woodson for heroics on Omaha Beach that have long gone unrecognized.
Two retired First Army generals presented Joann Woodson with the Medic Combat Badge and a Bronze Star, tributes her late husband earned for his service on D-Day, June 6, 1944. Despite his own serious injuries, Woodson treated hundreds of wounded, saving countless lives, until he collapsed 30 hours after landing. Click here to read more about the event.
Joann Woodson and her family are hoping this another step toward the Medal of Honor, our nation’s top award for valor. Woodson was nominated for the award in 1944 but he did not receive it. No African American soldiers did during World War II. “I hope I live long enough to see this Medal of Honor,” Joann Woodson said. “It’s been a long time.”
Click here to read more about the battle to award Woodson the Medal of Honor.
Click here to read more about Waverly Woodson’s battalion, D-Day’s only Black combat unit.