Push to posthumously give black soldier D-Day Medal of Honor

Rebecca Santana, Associated Press Published 9:38 a.m. ET July 4, 2019

The Congressional Black Caucus is pushing to posthumously award an African-American soldier the Medal of Honor for his bravery on D-Day.

Cpl. Waverly B. Woodson Jr. was an Army medic assigned to the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion. The battalion’s job was to set up explosive-rigged balloons to deter German planes. At a time when the military was still segregated by race, the balloon battalion was the only African-American combat unit to land on Normandy on June 6, 1944.

“There is only one medal to which the General could have been referring: the Medal of Honor,” the letter from the Congressional Black Caucus members states.

Woodson enlisted in Philadelphia after graduating from Pennsylvania’s Lincoln University. He attended antiaircraft officers’ training school, one of only two blacks in the course. But before graduation he was told there were too many antiaircraft officers and was sent back to the 320th for training as a medic.  Read  more:

This undated photo provided by Woodson family of Cpl. Waverly B. Woodson Jr. (Photo: Linda Hervieux, AP)