¶ The Attack on Isaac Woodard
I, Isaac Woodward, Jr. being duly sworn to depose and state as follows. I was honorably discharged on February twelfth, nineteen forty-six from Camp Gordon, Georgia. On February twelfth, nineteen forty six. An African American soldier on the day he was discharged was attacked by a white police officer somewhere in South Carolina. No one knew the identity of the police officer. No one even knew which town it happened in.
My family didn't know where he was. Isaac didn't even know where he was. The brutality of beating a veteran like that still in uniform coming home from fighting a war, that's what got people's attention. It was a great Who Dunit.
¶ Orson Welles Demands Justice
When the famous radio host Orson Wells heard about the case, he vowed to solve it on the air. Now it seems the officer of the law who blinded the young negro boy of the affidavit has not been named. Till we know more about him for just now we'll call the policeman officer X. If he's listening to this, let him listen well. Officer X.
You're going to be uncovered. We will blast out your name. There's something my father always told me. He said if you have a platform where you can speak, do it. And he did it. He was demanding accountability for white people for inflicting violence against black people. It was dramatic, truly dramatic.
¶ A New Series: Desegregation's Catalyst
Radio. That was a beginning. That was a beginning. From Radio Diaries and Radiotopia, we bring you Orson Wells and The Blind Soldier, a new series about a crime in a small southern town that led to the desegregation of the United States military. First episode drops February twelfth on the Radio Diaries Podcast. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.