February 12, 1946, Sgt. Isaac Woodard Jr. was honorably discharged from the U.S. Army after serving as a longshoreman in New Guinea during World War II. Still in his uniform, he boarded an Greyhound Bus in Camp Gordon, Georgia to finally see his wife in Winnsboro, South Carolina. He never would.

At one of the stops along the way, Woodard asked if he could use the bathroom. The driver cursed him and Woodard cursed him back. When Woodard returned, neither man said anything more. But when the bus made another stop in Batesburg (Now Batesburg-Leesville), South Carolina, the driver alerted police and they ordered Woodard off the bus. When he tried to explain the situation, Police Chief Linwood Shull beat Woodard with a blackjack. The beating continued until they reached the jail. Woodard testified that he was in and out of consciousness, but remembered Shull focusing the beatings on his eyes. When he awoke in the jail cell, he was could not see. He never would recover his vision.

Woodard was charged with disorderly conduct for drinking beer in the back of the bus with other Soldiers, although witnesses said that was a lie.

With no way to support himself and no chance for justice in South Carolina, he moved to New York City to live with his parents. His wife also left him. In New York, his case gathered the attention of the NAACP and after that, Orson Welles, who dedicated many of his nightly syndicated radio shows to injustice. Welles is best known for co-writing, directing and starring in what is often described as the best movie ever made, Citizen Kane.

In August 1946 a benefit was held for Woodard at Lewisohn Stadium The City College of New York. The benefit included Welles, Cab Calloway, Milton Berle, Billie Holliday and Woody Guthrie. Guthrie composed the song “The Blinding of Isaac Woodard” for the event. The last lines are, “I thought I fought on the islands to get rid of their kind. But I can see the fight lots plainer now that I am blind.”

In his Pulitzer Prize Winning biography of the president, “Truman,” David McCullough wrote the Woodard story, “made an everlasting impression on Truman, moving him in a way no statistics ever would have.”

When local prosecutors refused to do anything, President Truman had federal prosecutors step in. Since the crime occurred on federal property and Woodard was still in uniform, the police could be charged in federal court. However, the all- white jury quickly found Shull not guilty, although he had admitted repeatedly beating Woodard’s eyes.

A year later, Truman would create the President’s Committee on Civil Rights – the first national civil rights commission. 

And a month after the Berlin Airlift started, and a week after re-institution the draft, President Truman signed Executive Order 9981 desegregating the military. Although it would take another six years for the last unit to integrate, Truman continued introducing civil rights and anti-lynching legislation, causing a rift with fellow democrats in the South.
While Woodard’s beating helped spur significant changes in American life, his story was soon overshadowed by a many racist killings. Woodard lived the rest of his life in relative obscurity. 

In the aftermath of the Rodney King verdict in 1992, Woodard was mentioned in many articles recounting civil right history, but few if any papers noted his death a few months later. 
Last year, the town of Batesburg-Leesville dedicated a plaque honoring Woodard, which includes lines in braille. Speakers at the dedication included the commanding general of Fort Jackson. Woodard had reported there for basic training 76 years before. At the end of the dedication Batesburg-Leesville Mayor Lancer Shull (no relation to the police chief who beat Woodard) apologized and hugged Robert Young, Woodard’s 81-year-old nephew, who cared for him until his death. Shull said he was unsure if he should apologize, but his 9-year-old daughter convinced him he should.
Sgt. Isaac Woodard Jr. is interred at Calverton National Cemetery. He was 73 years old. 

His story was featured on PBS's American Experience https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC_pE4W059E

Blinding of Soldier leads to desegregation
By Mr. Thomas Byrd (Army Installation Command)

Isaac Woodard Jr. enlisted in the Army at Fort Jackson on Oct. 14, 1942. He served in the Pacific theater as a longshoreman and was promoted to sergeant. He received an honorable discharge and separated at Camp Gordon, Georgia in 1946. As he traveled back to his family in North Carolina on a Greyhound bus, his life, and the lives of countless others, were changed forever -- he was beaten and blinded by police officers in a South Carolina town.

The incident started like any other day. Woodard asked the bus driver if he could get off the bus to relieve himself just outside of Augusta, Georgia. After a short argument, the bus driver agreed. Woodard returned to the bus and the trip continued.

When the bus stopped in Batesburg, South Carolina the bus driver contacted the local police and reported Woodard for disorderly conduct. Several officers, including the Chief of Police Lynwood Shull, removed Woodard from the bus and took him to an alley and began to beat him with their nightsticks.

While Woodard was in jail, Shull beat and blinded him. Woodard requested medical attention, but remained in the jail for two days before a doctor was finally called in. Woodard was taken to a hospital in Aiken, South Carolina, where he remained for almost three weeks. Once his family reported him missing, he was taken to an Army hospital in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Doctors determined there his eyes were damaged beyond repair.

The NAACP worked to publicize the incident nationally and Woodard's story was soon covered in major national newspapers. Orson Welles, the actor and filmmaker, advocated for the punishment of the men who had attacked Woodard.

A meeting between NAACP Executive Secretary Walter Francis White and President Harry S. Truman in the Oval Office on Sept. 19, 1946, set in motion a chain of events that would change many lives. The next day Truman wrote to his Attorney General Tom C. Clark and demanded that action be taken to address South Carolina's refusal to try the case.
Six days later the Justice Department opened an investigation into the case.

Shull and several of his officers were indicted in the U.S. District Court in Columbia, South Carolina.
Shull's trial ended after the jury deliberated for only 28 minutes and he was acquitted.

The judge who presided over the trial, U.S. District Judge Julius Waties Waring, was upset at the outcome and became a proponent of the civil rights fight and continued to push for justice and equality until he died.

Truman initiated several changes in 1948. In February he sent the first comprehensive civil rights bill to congress. In September Truman issued Executive Order 9980, which integrated the federal government, and Executive Order 9981, which banned racial discrimination in the U.S. Armed Forces.


Woodard showing wounds. His eyes are closed and heavily bruised

A picture of Woodard in his uniform, wearing dark glasses. His mom stands next to him.

Isaac Woodard being led by then heavy weight boxing champion Joe Lewis (left) and Neil Scott. 

A picture of a blind Woodard with Joe Lewis and Neil Scott

AAdvertisement for the benefit concert for Woodard

An advertisement for the benefit concert for Woodard

The text of Executive Order 9981 banning segregation in the military

Calverton National Cemetery

Thank you Sgt. Woodard for your service and sacrifice. My mom is from Winnsboro, SC as well and lived in New Guinea for a year after college. African American servicemen had a profound influence on the Melanesian Islanders. It was the first time they'd seen other black men like themselves in leadership positions similar to whites, although the units were segregated.  I have included a short bio. 

"I spent three-and-a-half years in the service of my country and thought that I would be treated like a man when I returned to civilian life, but I was mistaken, …If the loss of my sight will make people in America get together to prevent what happened to me from ever happening again to any other person, I would be glad."
		— Sgt. Isaac Woodard, Jr.
Sgt. Issac Woodard, Jr. was born on March 8, 1919 in Winnsboro, SC to sharecroppers.  On October 14, 1942, at the age of 23 he was drafted into the US Army.  He enlisted at Fort Jackson, SC. During WWII, he deployed with the segregated 429th Port Battalion to the South Pacific islands, serving as a longshoremen. His unit suffered intense bombardment and casualties from the Japanese deeply entrenched on New Guinea. Sgt. Woodard demonstrated firm leadership and won promotions to corporal and sergeant.  He earned several honors including: a Battle Star for service in a combat zone, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, a Good Conduct Medal,  and the WWII Victory Medal.  He was honorably discharged from Fort Gordon, GA on February 12, 1946.  While on a Greyhound bus returning home, Sgt. Woodard still in uniform, got into a verbal altercation with the white bus driver, after asking to use the restroom. The bus driver summoned the Batesburg, SC police chief  at the next stop and Sgt. Woodard was removed from the bus and savagely beaten, leaving him completely and permanently blind.  President Harry Truman later made aware of the horrendous act against Sgt. Woodard ordered an investigation. The police chief was tried and acquitted.  Sgt. Woodard then moved to N.Y. where he spent the remainder of his life disabled.  Woodard’s attack was one of several committed against returning black veterans. Public outcry in the black community and celebrity support raised the profile of the incident and brought new federal attention to rampant racial inequality.  The blinding of Sgt. Woodard marked the beginnings of the Civil Right Movement.  President Harry Truman created the President’s Committee on Civil Rights in 1947, leading to the desegregation of the army in 1948.   A historical plaque was unveiled in 2019 in Batesburg in Sgt. Woodard’s honor.  Sgt. Isaac Woodard, Jr. died on September 23, 1992 at the age of 73.  He is buried in Section 15, Site 2180 in Calverton National Cemetery in Wading River, NY. 

TEC 4 Woodard, thank you for your extraordinary service and sacrifice to our country. You paved the way for future generations, and ensured our freedom. No Veteran Ever Dies. Remembering you this Memorial Day 2020

ISAAC WOODARD JR

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