Alumni Spotlight – Update
Enoch “Woody” Woodhouse ’44, is Recognized by President Biden at D-Day 80th Anniversary Ceremonies in Normandy
Enoch Woodhouse ’44 at 80th D-Day Anniversary Ceremonies on June 6, 2024.
Among the 20 heads of state and thousands of veterans and others attending the June 6 ceremonies in Normandy, France, marking the 80th Anniversary of D-Day, was 97 year-old Boston native, Tuskegee Airman Enoch ‘Woody’ Woodhouse III. President Joe Biden mentioned him by name in his remarks. The Roxbury native, now a Brigadier General, is one of the last surviving Tuskegee Airmen.
The WW II tide was turning in favor of the Allies when they launched the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944, one of the most consequential developments of the war, instrumental in defeating the Axis powers.
Enoch “Woody’ Woodhouse
Immediately after graduation day at The English High School of Boston, America’s oldest public high school, Woody and 20 of his classmates enlisted in the Army. He was encouraged to serve by his mother.
Because he was just 17, not old enough to fight, Woody joined the Army Air Corps and trained as finance officer / paymaster for the group that became known as the Tuskegee Airmen, America’s first all-Black combat flying unit. The unit played a pivotal role in the early integration of the US Armed Forces. Woody recalls that, at the time, unit members weren’t even allowed to be trained alongside white soldiers. Although Black soldiers trained as aviators under segregated conditions, their distinguished record played a huge role in President Harry Truman’s decision in 1948 to end discrimination in the military.
Woody’s military service earned him numerous awards. In 2007 President George W. Bush told the Tuskegee Airmen, “I would like to offer a gesture to help atone for all the unreturned salutes and unforgivable indignities. On behalf of the office I hold, and a country that honors you, I salute you for the service to the United States of America.”
