Blacks that suffered Inhumane Treatments III

ISSAC WOODWARD

In 1946 Issac Woodward WWII veteran, hours after being honourably disharged, was attacked by south carolina police, while still in uniform when taking the bus home and left permanently blind.

Issac enlisted in the U.S army in 1942 at fort jackson in columbia, S.C, and served in the pacific theateras a longshorman in a labour battalion. In febuary 1946, the decorated soldier recieved an honourable discharge at camp Gordon, which is located near Augusta, Geogia.

Along with other discharged soldiers, woodward boarded a Greyhound bus on febuary 12, to travel home. A conflict was triggered when the white bus driver belittled the army veterian for asking to take a bathroom break.

At the next stop, Woodward was met by the chief Linwood shull of the Batesburg, south carolina police. While still in his army uniform, the police forcibly removed him in the bus and arrested him for disordely conduct.

They beat woodward, and the next day he was convicted for ''Drunken and disorderly conduct'' and fined $50. They also refused to take him to the hospital after beating him for several days. The beatings that he suffered in police custody caused him permanent blindness.

After the sham trial, the soldier requested medical aassistance , but it took two more days for a doctor to be sent to him. Not knowing where he was and suffering from amnesia, woodward eventually ended up in a hospital in a different town revieving substandard care.

Three weeks after he was reported missing by his relatives, woodward was discovered in an hospital. He was immediately rushed to an army hospitalin Spartanburg. Though his memory had begun to recorver by that time, doctors found out both eyes were damaged beyond repair.

The attack which left woodward completely and permanently blind sparked national outrage and galvanized the civil rights movement in the united states.

Despite the officer's admission that he had blinded Woodward, he was acquitted by an all white jury after just 30 minutes of deliberation. The courtroom broke into applauds upon hearing the verdict.

Mr Woodward recovered in a veteran's hospital and eventually moved to new york without his wife, who walked out on the marriage after the incident. He lived in New york with his family, until his death in 1992, at the age of 73.

He was buried with millitary honors at the Calverton National cementary in calverton, New york. In 2019, an historic marker about woodward went up in the city where he was blinded, now called Batesburg Leesville.

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