Van Hollen Presents Distinguished Service Cross to Family of D-Day Hero Waverly Woodson

U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) hosts a ceremony on Capitol Hill to present the Distinguished Service Cross, the second-highest U.S. Army award, to the family of World War II veteran Waverly B. Woodson, Jr. for saving countless lives during the Allied Invasion of Normandy of World War II. The Senator is joined by U.S. Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth and First Army senior officers as he presents this posthumous award. This event comes after Senator Van Hollen and Army officials announced earlier this year that Woodson was approved for the honor following years of advocacy by the Woodson family, First Army, historians, Senator Van Hollen, and others to recognize Woodson’s heroic D-Day actions that were overlooked due to his race. Woodson’s widow, Joann, a resident of Clarksburg, Maryland, will be presented with a WWII-era Distinguished Service Cross, which First Army placed in the sand on Omaha Beach on the 80th anniversary of D-Day at the site where Woodson set up his first aid station.

During the D-Day invasion, as a 21-year-old medic in the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion of the First Army, Woodson spent over 30 hours treating countless fellow soldiers amid intense combat and saved an estimated 200 lives – despite being wounded himself. Woodson was born and raised in Pennsylvania, but following the war, settled in Clarksburg, Maryland, where his widow, Joann Woodson, and members of his family still reside.