Clinton Woodley gets his awards
The folks at the 1st Cavalry Division PAO send us the story of 96-year-old Clinton Woodley who they honored on Friday. They tell me that when Clinton joined the storied division, they still had horses. From army.mil;
“It is a distinct honor to have Sgt. Woodley, his daughter Ms. Shari Bankston and her family along with many friends and supporters with us today so we can present four awards that he earned more than 70 years ago, and are long overdue,” said Maj. Gen. Michael Bills, commanding general 1st Cavalry Division.
Woodley enlisted in the U.S. Army on July 31, 1940, and was initially stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas, as a mounted cavalryman riding along the Texas-Mexico border.
A few years later, he continued to serve in the First Team as the division underwent a major change.
“Sgt. Woodley was there when the division turned in their horses to fight as dismounted cavalry during the Second World War, and he served with the distinction in the Pacific theater of operations from 1943-1945, participating in multiple campaigns to help end the war against Japan,” Bills said.
During the war, Woodley served as an infantryman in the campaigns to liberate the Bismarck Archipelago, Luzon, New Guinea, the Southern Philippines and the Admiralty Islands, before mustering out of the Army on Sept. 13, 1945.
The Killeen Daily Herald reports that the division commander pinned some awards to the troop that he didn’t know that he’d earned, with his daughter at his side;
With obvious emotion, the 96-year-old veteran said a quiet “thank you,” before receiving the Bronze Star Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Service Medal with four bronze service stars and the World War II Victory Medal for his years of service in the Pacific Theater from 1943 to 1945.
“It’s very emotional that my father is receiving the recognition,” said Woodley’s daughter, Shari Bankston. “I’m very proud and honored that he is my father.”
Category: Real Soldiers
“SALUTE”
Did ya read that, posers? He EARNED medals he didn’t even know about. That’s because he was more interested in, and proud of, helping to win a war than bling on his chest.
BZ Sarge!!
Spot-On Old Trooper!
“EARNED”
And no long winded acceptance speech like people nowadays.
Just a simple, humble: “Thank You”
Sadly, the day of the “Real Soldier” are coming to an end.
I disagree Ozzie. I’m not trying to pick a fight here but I am proud as hell of the young men and women we have today.
Proud as hell to be associated with them.
They are every bit as good as any that have ever served.
“They fought like tigers” !!!
They did and continue to do so.
Look at the medals these people get, the most that any of them say is Thank you and that the real heroes died over there…
They have the same quiet humility that this wonderful old Trooper displays in this post.
So I totally disagree.
Thanks
My comment was directed more to the “higher-up’s” that have been high profile lately.
Apologize if I did not make my thoughts clear. I re-read my comment and, yep, the way I worded it, it sounds like I am talking about the regular joe.
I in no way meant any disrespect for today’s Soldier.
I am very proud of the ones who are serving today.
Both of my sons are serving now.
Thank you for bringing this to my attention.
@ Old Trooper:
Amen.
@ Sgt. Woodley:
Hand Salute!
I could read stories like this one all day.
Congratulations to Sgt. Woodley and his family and also to those that made the celebration possible.
Very nice story.
Good to see this. Kudos to everyone involved in seeing that this man got what he’d earned.
Can you think of any job better than to be actually paid to comb through the old archives, reading all those reports and researching all those events and those involved with them, to make sure people got the awards they earned?
No, I really can’t.
ybiC,
mike
Lovin’ the Stetson.
My kind..of Feel Good Story!! Thank you Mr. Clinton Woodley, for serving so honorably and humbly, to defend our country. God bless and keep you Sir!
Be sure and click on both of those links, because there’s more pictures.
The Seventh Cavalry of the First Cavalry Division at Fort Hood, Texas was my final assignment in the United States Army, where I was Honorably Discharged as a Cavalry Scout (MOS 11D20).
GARRYOWEN!
Most excellent! Congrats to Sgt Woodley, thank you for your service Sir, and regrets that it took so long for you to be properly recognized!
Thanks to Jonn for posting this.
As an aside to those wondering why it took so long.
No nefarious misdeeds…SGT Woodley returned stateside on 6 Sep 1945- if you do the math, that’s pretty fast on the boat after VJ Day. He was then honorably discharged on 13 Sep and went on with his life until about 69 years later when an alert member of the Texas Veterans Commission (working with SGT Woodley’s daughter) was looking at his DD-214 and noticed he was missing awards he was entitled to given he earned a CIB in Pacific Theater of Operations.
This is one case when a Mr. “Wolf B.” did his job well in looking out for the veterans he served. Not an occasion to point fingers or ask questions about why he didn’t get them 70 years ago. And I’m not being combative here…I appreciate the concern, but in this case- it’s just a case of a guy who got out of the Army before the paper trail could catch up to him, but the right thing was done seven decades later. As the article said- he didn’t even know he had earned them, but we’re glad he did.
Although I didn’t have anything to do with him getting his awards, I did have the honor of being in attendance. I also had the honor of seeing the first Vietnamese-American being promoted to Brigadier General here at the Great Place…