WW2 Untold: The Black Battalion That Protected the Skies on D-Day

Greetings, history enthusiasts. I'm Steve Matthews, and welcome back to WW2 Stories. Today, we're turning our attention to an extraordinary group of men whose courage and determination played a crucial yet often overlooked role in the success of D-Day - the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Greetings, history enthusiasts. I'm Steve Matthews and welcome
back to WW2 stories. Today we're turning our
attention to an extraordinary group of men whose courage and
determination played a crucial, yet often overlooked role in the
success of D-Day, the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion.

(00:21):
As dawn broke over the English Channel on June 6th, 1944,
thousands of vessels carrying the hopes of a free world
approach the beaches of Normandy.
Among the brave souls preparing to land that day were the men of
the 320th, the only all black combat unit to participate in
the initial assault on Fortress Europe.

(00:43):
Their story is 1 of exceptional bravery, innovation under fire
in a fight on 2 fronts against both the Nazi enemy and the
pervasive discrimination of their era.
Imagine the scene that morning, the massive Allied Armada spread
across the horizon, the thunderous naval bombardment
attempting to soften German defenses and aboard their

(01:06):
landing craft, the men of the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion
checking their equipment one final time, knowing that the
next few hours would test every ounce of their training in
resolve. These men came from all walks of
life across America. Some like Waverly, Woody Woodson
Junior, had been pre Med students before the war

(01:27):
interrupted their studies. Others, like Henry Parham, had
been drafted from small towns and rural communities.
Their commander, Lieutenant Colonel Leon Reed, a white
officer from South Carolina, hadhelped forge them into a
cohesive, highly specialized unit during their training at
Camp Tyson, Tennessee. Their mission was unlike any

(01:50):
other unit landing that day. The 320th was tasked with
deploying large hydrogen filled balloons tethered by steel
cables over the landing beaches.These balloons, floating
approximately 200 feet above thechaos below, created a defensive
canopy that forced German aircraft to fly higher,

(02:11):
preventing them from conducting the low level strafing and
bombing runs that could devastate the vulnerable troops
on the beaches and the ships offshore.
As the landing craft carrying the 3rd wave approached Omaha
and Utah beaches around 9:00 AM,the men of the 320th steeled
themselves for what lay ahead. The situation they were heading

(02:32):
into was dire. The first waves at Omaha Beach
in particular, had encountered devastating German resistance.
Bodies of fallen Americans linedthe water line.
Machine gunfire rate the beach. Artillery shells exploded in
fountains of sand and sea water.Among the first of the 320th to

(02:54):
land were five medics, includingCorporal Waverly Woodson,
Junior, as their landing craft approached Omaha Beach, Woodson
later recalled. They were shelling the devil out
of us at the same time. We went over 2 submerged mines.
The whole thing jumped out of the water.
Woodson was severely wounded by shrapnel before he even reached

(03:16):
the shore. But what happened next
exemplifies the extraordinary courage displayed by these men.
Despite his injuries, bleeding and in pain, Woodson established
a medical aid station directly on the beach.
For the next 30 hours, a day anda quarter without rest, this
wounded medic treated an estimated 200 injured and dying

(03:38):
men. He removed bullets, patched
wounds, dispensed blood plasma and even performed an
amputation. Only when he physically
collapsed from exhaustion did Woodson finally seek treatment
for his own wounds. His selfless actions saved
countless lives that day and represented the highest ideals

(03:59):
of service and sacrifice. But Woodson wasn't alone in his
heroism. All across Omaha and Utah
beaches, the men of the 320th were engaged in their critical
mission. While under intense enemy fire,
they face the daunting technicalchallenge how to bring their
specialized equipment, the balloons, hydrogen tanks,

(04:21):
winches and cables, ashore through crashing surf and onto
beaches raked by enemy fire. In preparation for this
challenge, the battalion had demonstrated remarkable
ingenuity. Traditional balloon winches were
far too heavy for amphibious operations, so they had adapted
lightweight RL 31 signal core cable winches and mounted them

(04:43):
onto jeeps. This innovation proved crucial
during the landings, allowing for rapid deployment once they
reached the beaches. As Colonel Reed attempted to
regroup his scattered men under fire, the determined soldiers of
the 320th began setting up theirequipment.
Many of the first balloons were destroyed by German artillery

(05:05):
before they could even be fully deployed.
The Germans, recognizing the threat these balloons posed to
their air operations, specifically targeted them and
the men setting them up. But the 320th persisted.
By nightfall on June 6th, they had managed to get one balloon
flying over Omaha Beach. By dawn the next morning, 12

(05:28):
more were aloft. In the days that followed, they
continued to replace balloons lost to enemy fire, gradually
establishing an effective aerialdefense over both beaches.
The presence of these balloons dramatically altered the air
battle above the beaches. German pilots were forced to fly
at higher altitudes, making their bombing runs less accurate

(05:51):
and strafing attacks nearly impossible.
At least one German aircraft wasconfirmed destroyed after
striking a balloon cable and crashing into the English
Channel. Many more were deterred from
attacking at all by the hazardous aerial obstacle course
created by the 320th. The battalion's efforts were
particularly crucial during the night time hours when German air

(06:14):
attacks increased. Their balloons ensured that the
vital flow of reinforcements, supplies, and equipment could
continue safely onto the beachessupporting the Allied push
inland. 1 Soldier of the 320th, Allen J Coles Junior from
Brooklyn, NY, specialized in anchoring these balloons under

(06:35):
fire. The task required precision and
courage. Securing a balloon filled with
highly flammable hydrogen while exposed to enemy fire was
dangerous work. Coles and his fellow Soldiers
performed this duty day after day throughout the Normandy
campaign. The 320th continued their vital
work for 140 days in France, protecting Allied supply lines

(07:00):
in ports until October 1944. They were the only American
barrage balloon unit in France and remained an essential part
of the Allied air defense strategy throughout this
critical period. What makes their story all the
more remarkable is the context in which they served.
These men were fighting for freedom abroad while being

(07:21):
denied full citizenship at home.They served in a segregated
military that often relegated black soldiers to service in
labor battalions rather than combat roles.
They face discrimination and prejudice even as they risk
their lives alongside their white counterparts.
Yet their effectiveness in combat began changing

(07:42):
perceptions even among those with deeply entrenched racist
attitudes. As one military correspondent
wrote at the time, it seems the whole front knows the story of
the Negro Barrage Balloon Battalion outfit, which was one
of the first ashore on D-Day. They have gotten the reputation
of hard workers and good soldiers.

(08:02):
Their simple earnestness and pride is obvious to some of the
most Jim Crow conscious Southerners.
For their actions during the Normandy landings, the 320th
received a commendation from General Dwight D Eisenhower
himself. Recognizing their courage and
determination, their work was acknowledged as a critical

(08:22):
element of the Allied air defense that contributed
directly to the success of the invasion.
After the war, the men of the 320th returned to an America
still deeply divided by segregation.
Waverly Woodson, despite his heroism that likely saved
hundreds of lives, was not awarded the Medal of Honor he

(08:43):
was reportedly nominated for. Instead, he studied medical
technology and worked for 28 years at the Naval Medical
Center in Bethesda and the National Institutes of Health.
He married Joanne Catherine Snowden in 1952 and raised three
children. Henry Parham returned to
civilian life and worked as a machine operator in Pittsburgh.

(09:07):
He remained active in veterans organizations and was later
honored as a Chevalier of the French Legion of Honor in 2013
for his service during D-Day. When he died in July 2021 at the
age of 99, he was believed to bethe last surviving member of the
320th Barrage Balloon Battalion.Allen J Coles Junior went back

(09:29):
to Brooklyn after the war and worked as an orthopedic
technician at the Bronx VeteransHospital for 30 years,
reportedly never missing a day of work.
He later retired to Florida and was remembered as agreeable, fun
loving, and always happy despitethe hardships he had endured.
The story of the 320th reveals an important truth about the

(09:51):
war. Victory required the
contributions of all Americans, regardless of race and Black
soldiers played vital roles in combat that have too often been
forgotten or minimized in our historical memory.
It wasn't until decades later that these men began receiving
the full recognition they deserved.
In 2024, eight years after D-DayWaverly Woodson was posthumously

(10:15):
awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his
extraordinary heroism on Omaha Beach.
For his family, this belated honor acknowledged what they had
always known, that Woodson was ahero whose actions exemplified
the highest ideals of service and sacrifice.
Let's take a moment to consider what the men of the 320th

(10:36):
accomplished. They landed on the most heavily
defended coastline in history. They deployed an innovative air
defense system under intense enemy fire.
They persisted despite losing equipment and comrades.
They saved lives, protected vital operations, and
contributed directly to the success of the largest

(10:57):
amphibious invasion in military history.
And they did all this while carrying the additional burden
of fighting for a country that did not yet treat them as equal
citizens. Their story embodies both the
painful contradictions of American history and the
enduring power of courage, sacrifice, and service to
transcend those contradictions. The next time you see archival

(11:20):
footage or photographs of D-Day,look for those distinctive
balloons floating above the beaches.
Each one represents the bravery and determination of the men of
the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion.
Men who faced enemy fire and discrimination with equal
resolve. Men whose legacy reminds us that
heroism knows no color on the beaches of Normandy.

(11:43):
Amidst the chaos and carnage of D-Day, these men prove that
courage is universal. They demonstrated that in the
Crucible of combat, what mattersmost is not the color of a
soldier skin, but the content ofhis character, his willingness
to serve, to sacrifice, and if necessary, to give his life for
his comrades in his country. The story of the 320th Barrage

(12:08):
Balloon Battalion is not just black history.
It's not just military history, it's American history, a chapter
that deserves to be remembered, honored, and passed down to
future generations as an exampleof exceptional courage in the
face of extraordinary challenges.
As dawn broke on June 7th, 1944,with the beach head secured and

(12:32):
reinforcements pouring ashore, those barrage balloons floating
above Omaha and Utah beaches stood as silent Sentinels,
testaments to the courage and determination of the men who
deployed them. And in the skies above, German
pilots were forced to reckon with the aerial obstacles placed
there by the skilled hands of the soldiers of the 320th.

(12:54):
Behind each balloon was a story of personal courage.
Take Henry Parham, who had been drafted at age 21 and mastered
the complex operation of barrageballoons.
During his training on D-Day, hefound himself on Omaha Beach
working to deploy his balloon amid the carnage around him.
He would serve 68 days in France, later helping to protect

(13:18):
General Patton's army as it pushed inland.
He was eventually sent to Hawaiiin preparation for deployment to
the Pacific Theater, but the warended before he saw further
combat. Or consider the leadership of
Lieutenant Colonel Leon Reed, who faced the challenging task
of commanding and regrouping hisscattered men during the chaos

(13:38):
of the landings. Despite the year of segregation,
Reed earned the respect of his men through his leadership and
dedication to their mission. Under his guidance, the 320th
overcame the immense challenges of D-Day.
In the subsequent campaign in Normandy, the Germans recognized
the threat posed by the barrage balloons and responded with

(14:00):
determined hostility. From the moment the 320th began
setting up their equipment, German artillery and machine
guns targeted both the men and their balloons.
Many of the first balloons were destroyed before they could even
be fully deployed. But for every balloon shot down,
the men of the 320th quickly replaced it, frustrating German

(14:23):
attempts to neutralize this aerial defense.
The presence of the balloons forced German aircraft to fly at
higher altitudes, making their bombing and strafing runs less
effective. The steel cables tethering the
balloons posed a physical hazardto aircraft, and German pilots
had to carefully navigate aroundthem or risk catastrophic damage

(14:45):
to their planes. At least one German aircraft was
confirmed destroyed after colliding with a balloon cable
over the channel. As the beach had expanded and
Allied forces pushed inland, the320th continued their vital
work, moving their balloons forward to protect supply lines
and forward positions. Their 140 days of service in

(15:08):
France represented A continuous battle not just against the
enemy, but against the elements and the technical challenges of
maintaining their specialized equipment in combat conditions.
Their story intersects with the broader narrative of the gradual
integration of America's armed forces.
Executive Order 88 O2, signed byPresident Roosevelt in 1941, had

(15:31):
prohibited racial discriminationin the defense industry, but the
military remains segregated. Throughout World War 2, units
like the 320th, along with the Tuskegee Airmen, the 761st Tank
Battalion, and other black combat units, demonstrated
through their performance in battle that segregation had no

(15:52):
military justification. Their service helped lay the
groundwork for President Truman's Executive Order 9981 in
1948, which began the process ofdesegregating the armed forces.
Many of the men who served in the 320th would live to see not
just the integration of the military, but the broader civil

(16:13):
rights movement that transformedAmerican Society in the decades
following the war. The legacy of the 320th extends
beyond their military achievements.
These men were pioneers, breaking barriers, challenging
stereotypes, and opening doors for future generations.
They represented the best of America's values, even as

(16:36):
America itself failed to fully live up to those values.
To truly understand the significance of what the 320th
accomplished, we need to explorethe technical aspects of their
mission in greater detail. Barrage balloons were not simple
devices. They were sophisticated
defensive weapons that required specialized training to deploy

(16:57):
and maintain. The balloons themselves were
large silver hydrogen filled ovals about 35 feet long,
designed to be tethered at various heights, typically 200
feet above ground. Each was attached to a steel
cable capable of shearing the wings off any aircraft
unfortunate enough to fly into it.

(17:19):
The hydrogen that filled them was highly flammable, making
their handling particularly dangerous, especially under
enemy fire. The 320th had trained
extensively at Camp Tyson in Tennessee, learning the
intricate dance of inflation, deployment, winching and
maintenance. They learned to judge wind

(17:39):
conditions, calculate proper heights and handle the volatile
hydrogen with the precision of chemists.
It was dangerous technical work,far from the stereotypical labor
roles to which black soldiers were often relegated.
In preparation for D-Day, the 320th had to solve a critical
logistical problem, how to bringtheir equipment ashore during an

(18:02):
amphibious assault. Traditional winches were far too
heavy for beach landings. Working with engineers, they
modified lightweight signal corecable equipment to serve their
purposes, adapting and innovating to overcome the
unique challenges of their mission.
When the men of the 320th climbed down the rope ladders of

(18:23):
their landing craft into the churning waters off Normandy,
they carried not just their personal weapons and equipment,
but the responsibility for an entire facet of the invasion's
air defense. The weight of that
responsibility must have been enormous.
The morning of June 6th dawn with overcast skies.
Fortunate for the Allies as it limited German air operations,

(18:47):
but the men of the 320th knew that if the weather cleared, the
Luftwaffe would appear in force.Their mission was to ensure that
when that happened, the vulnerable troops on the beaches
would have a shield against low flying attacks.
Consider what these men faced asthey waded ashore at Omaha Beach
in particular. The scene was apocalyptic.

(19:09):
The sand strewn with bodies, equipment burning.
The air filled with the sounds of gunfire, explosions in the
cries of the wounded. Many units scattered or stalled,
pinned down by withering German fire from the Bluffs above.
Yet amid this chaos, the 320th began methodically setting up

(19:29):
their equipment, unloading hydrogen tanks, preparing
balloons for inflation, setting up lynches and coordinating
their positions along the beach.Each step had to be performed
with precision. Despite the bullets whizzing
past and shells exploding nearby.
The technical challenges alone would have been daunting.
Even in peacetime, the salt water and sand threatened to

(19:52):
follow their equipment. The winds coming off the channel
made balloon handling treacherous.
The hydrogen tanks they brought ashore were essentially bombs
waiting to be ignited by a straybullet or shell fragment. 1
soldier from the 320th, William Dabney, later recalled the
intensity of that day. We had practiced and practiced.

(20:14):
But nothing could prepare you for doing this under fire.
You're trying to handle this balloon that's pulling in the
wind, secure lines, check pressure, all while trying not
to get shot. And you know if that hydrogen
goes up, you go with it. By evening on D-Day, having one
balloon flying over Omaha Beach might not seem like a major

(20:35):
achievement, but consider what it represented.
The unit that had landed in the third wave under heavy fire had
successfully established their specialized equipment and begun
their mission despite massive casualties and chaos around
them. It was a testament to their
training, discipline, and courage.
As Don broke on June 7th, the sight of a dozen barrage

(20:59):
balloons floating above the beaches served as a visible sign
that the beachhead was being secured and organized for
incoming troops. Those silver ovals hovering in
the sky were reassuring signal that air defenses were in place
for German reconnaissance aircraft.
Observing from a distance, the balloons communicated that the
Allied foothold was becoming more established by the hour.

(21:23):
Each balloon represented a sector of airspace now denied to
Luftwaffe pilots seeking to strafe the beaches.
In the days following D-Day, themen of the 320th established a
routine of continuous operation,working in shifts to maintain
their balloons 24 hours a day. When German artillery targeted

(21:44):
their positions, they quickly replaced damaged equipment and
redeployed. When storms threatened to tear
balloons loose, they battled theelements to secure them.
When hydrogen supplies ran low, they improvised solutions to
maintain their aerial shield. The effectiveness of their work
can be measured in negatives. The attacks that didn't happen,

(22:06):
the strafing runs that weren't attempted, the bombs that
weren't dropped. German pilots, already
contending with Allied fighters now had to factor in these
deadly cables hanging invisibly in their attack paths.
Many simply chose to avoid the protected areas entirely,
focusing their diminishing air resources elsewhere.

(22:28):
As the beach had expanded and Allied forces pushed inland, the
320th moved with them, providingaerial protection for crucial
supply dumps, field hospitals and command posts.
Their mobility and adaptability made them an invaluable asset as
the campaign evolved from establishing A foothold to
breaking out of Normandy. The story of the 320th is also

(22:52):
notable for what it reveals about the complex racial
dynamics within the US military during World War 2.
While officially segregated, therealities of combat often
created unexpected interactions and dependencies between white
and Black units. On D-Day itself, white medical
personnel worked alongside Waverly Woodson and his aid

(23:14):
station. The urgent needs of the wounded
transcending racial boundaries. White officers directed the 320
THS deployment, coordinating their positions with other
units, and White Soldiers fighting on the beaches
benefited from the aerial protection the 320th provided, 1
White officer who observed the 320th in action wrote in his

(23:37):
report. These men performed with
exceptional courage and efficiency under the most
difficult circumstances imaginable.
Their technical proficiency and dedication to duty were
instrumental in establishing effective air defenses during
the critical early hours of the invasion.
Such observations challenge the prevailing racial prejudices of

(23:58):
the era and contributed to the growing body of evidence that
segregation Hanford military effectiveness rather than
enhanced it. The performance of units like
the 320th in combat situations began slowly shifting
perceptions both within the military hierarchy and among
ordinary soldiers. This shift wasn't universal or

(24:19):
immediate. Many of the men of the 320th
still encounter discrimination even as they served.
They were often denied access tothe same recreational facilities
as white soldiers during lulls in combat.
Their achievements received lesscoverage in military
publications in the mainstream press back home, and they

(24:41):
returned to a United States still firmly in the grip of Jim
Crow laws and practices. But seeds of change had been
planted. The shared experience of combat
created bonds that transcended racial lines.
For many veterans, the demonstrated competence of black
combat units undermine stereotypes that had been used
to justify segregation in the contrast between fighting for

(25:05):
democracy abroad while being denied its full benefits at home
became increasingly difficult toignore or justify.
Many veterans of the 320th and other black units became active
participants in the civil rightsmovement after the war, bringing
within the discipline, organizational skills, and moral
authority gained through their service.

(25:27):
They had faced death for their country.
They would not be deterred by fire hoses, police dogs or angry
mobs in their quest for equal rights.
When Waverly Woodson returned tothe United States after the war,
he found that despite his heroism on Omaha Beach, many
opportunities remained close to him because of his race.

(25:47):
Unable to attend medical school as he had planned before the
war, he instead studied medical technology and built a
successful career in that field.Woodson rarely spoke about his
experiences on D-Day, even to his family.
His wife, Joanne, learned many details only years later, when
historians began researching thecontributions of Black soldiers

(26:10):
during the Normandy invasion. Like many combat veterans, he
carried the trauma of that day silently for decades.
When interviewed later in life about whether he felt bitter
about the lack of recognition for his service, Woodson
displayed the same selflessness that had characterized his
actions on Omaha Beach. I don't feel bitter.

(26:31):
I'm proud of the job we did. We weren't fighting for
ourselves alone. We were fighting for generations
to come. Henry Parham similarly
downplayed his own contributionswhen interviewed decades later.
We just did what we were trainedto do.
We had a job, and we did it the best we could.

(26:51):
This humility was characteristicof many veterans of the 320th,
who viewed their service not as extraordinary, but simply as
their duty. Parham story after the war
exemplifies the quiet dignity with which many members of the
320th carried themselves. Returning to civilian life, he
worked for decades as a machine operator in Pittsburgh, raised a

(27:14):
family, and built a life focusedon the future rather than the
past. It wasn't until much later, when
he began attending D-Day commemorations, that he started
receiving recognition for his role in the invasion.
In 2013, nearly 7 decades after D-Day, the French government
awarded Parham the Legion of Honor, its highest decoration at

(27:39):
the ceremony, the French consul general noted, Your generation
answered the call of your nationand the call of freedom.
You crossed the ocean to rescue people you did not know in a
country many of you had never seen before.
Such belated recognition became increasingly common as the years
passed and historians began to more thoroughly document the

(28:00):
contributions of Black soldiers during World War 2.
Books like Forgotten, The UntoldStory of D Base Black Heroes by
Linda Herview helped bring the story of the 320th to a wider
audience. Documentaries and museum
exhibitions further expanded public awareness of their role
in the invasion. In 2019, on the 75th anniversary

(28:23):
of D-Day, a monument honoring the African American troops who
participated in the Normandy landings was unveiled in France,
finally giving visual representation to a long
overlooked chapter of history. The monument includes a specific
reference to the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion, acknowledging
their unique contribution to thesuccess of the invasion.

(28:47):
For the families of these men, such recognition has been both a
source of pride and a long delayed acknowledgement of their
loved one's sacrifice and service.
Many of the soldiers themselves rarely spoke about their wartime
experiences after returning home, carrying both the trauma
of combat and the sting of returning to a segregated
society after fighting for freedom abroad.

(29:09):
Joanne Woodson campaigned for decades to have her husband's
heroism properly recognized, working with historians,
military officials, and eventually members of Congress
to document his actions on OmahaBeach and secure appropriate
honors. The posthumous award of the
Distinguished Service Cross in 2024 came too late for Waverly

(29:30):
Woodson himself, who died in 2005, but represented an
important step in correcting thehistorical record.
The story of the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion fits into a
broader narrative of Black military service throughout
American history, from the Revolutionary War through the
Civil War, the Spanish American War, World War One, and beyond.

(29:54):
In each conflict, Black Americans answered the call to
serve despite facing discrimination at home and in
the military itself. This history of service and
sacrifice created a powerful moral foundation for the civil
rights movement that gained momentum in the decades
following World War 2. As Martin Luther King Junior

(30:15):
noted in his famous I Have a Dream speech, we have come to
our nation's capital to cash a check, a promise that all men
would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
For veterans of the 320th and other black units who had put
their lives on the line for those very principles, the
disconnect between America's stated ideals and its treatment

(30:38):
of Black citizens was particularly stark.
Their service had earned them the right to be treated as full
citizens, and many became activeparticipants in the struggle to
make that right a reality. The legacy of the 320th extends
to contemporary discussions about recognition and
representation and how we memorialize historical events.

(31:00):
The famous photographs and footage of D-Day that have
shaped our collective memory of the invasion rarely show the
Black soldiers who participated.History textbooks have often
minimized or omitted their contributions.
Popular films about World War 2 have frequently failed to
include Black characters based on the real soldiers who fought

(31:21):
and died. This erasure has consequences.
It deprives young Americans, particularly young Black
Americans, of historical role models who demonstrate courage,
skill and patriotism. It creates an incomplete and
misleading picture of who foughtand sacrificed in America's
wars, and it diminishes our understanding of the complex

(31:44):
ways in which issues of race have shaped American history.
Recent efforts to recover and amplify these overlooked stories
represent an important correction to this historical
amnesia. They remind us that American
history belongs to all Americans, that heroism and
sacrifice have come in all colors, and that our national
narrative is richer and more complete when it includes all

(32:07):
who contributed to it. When we consider the immense
logistics of D-Day, the thousands of ships, the 10s of
thousands of troops, the mountains of supplies, it's easy
to overlook the specialized units that performed crucial but
less visible roles. The 320th Barrage Balloon
Battalion was one such unit, buttheir contribution was vital to

(32:30):
the overall success of the operation.
Without the aerial protection they provided, Allied troops and
supplies on the beaches would have been far more vulnerable to
German air attacks. The casualty rate, already
horrific, could have been even higher.
The build up of forces necessaryfor the breakout from Normandy

(32:50):
might have been severely Hanford.
The technical innovations they brought to the battlefield,
adapting equipment for amphibious operations,
developing rapid deployment techniques for their balloons,
creating mobile defensive positions that could move with
advancing forces, demonstrated the kind of ingenuity that
characterized American military operations throughout the war.

(33:13):
Their story also highlights the often overlooked technological
aspects of World War 2. While tanks, planes and ships
capture much of our attention, the war was won through
countless specialized systems and techniques.
From barrage balloons to portable bridges, from encrypted
communications to innovative medical treatments, the men of

(33:35):
the 320th had to master not justbasic soldiering skills, but a
complex technical specialty. They were not just fighters.
They were technicians, engineers, and problem solvers.
Their ability to adapt their equipment and techniques to the
chaotic conditions of combat exemplifies the flexibility and

(33:56):
innovation that gave allied forces a crucial edge.
This technical prowess directly contradicted the racist
stereotypes that have been used to justify restricting black
soldiers primarily to labor and service roles.
The 320th demonstrated that withproper training and equipment,
black units could perform complex military functions with

(34:18):
the same skill and determinationas any other soldiers.
Their success on D-Day and in the subsequent Normandy campaign
provided powerful evidence against the segregationist
policies that still dominated the US military.
It became increasingly difficultto maintain that black soldiers
were somehow less capable of combat roles when units like the

(34:40):
320th had proven themselves under the most demanding
conditions imaginable. In the decades since World War
2, the story of the 320th has gradually emerged from the
shadows. Books, documentaries and
exhibitions have helped bring their achievements to light.
In 2019, on the 75th anniversaryof D-Day, a monument honoring

(35:05):
the African American troops who participated in the Normandy
landings was unveiled in France,finally giving visual
representation to a long overlooked chapter of history.
For the families of these men, recognition has been both a
source of pride and a long delayed acknowledgement of their
loved one's sacrifice and service.

(35:25):
Many of the soldiers themselves rarely spoke about their wartime
experiences after returning home, carrying both the trauma
of combat and the sting of returning to a segregated
society after fighting for freedom abroad.
Waverly Woodson's widow, Joanne,campaigned for decades to have
her husband's heroism properly recognized.

(35:46):
The posthumous award of the Distinguished Service Cross in
2024 came too late for Woodson himself, who died in 2005, but
represented an important step incorrecting the historical
record. As we reflect on the story of
the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion, we're reminded of the
complexity of American history, of a nation capable of both

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tremendous injustice and remarkable progress, of
individuals who served with honor despite being denied full
citizenship, of courage that transcended the artificial
barriers of race and prejudice. Their legacy lives on in the
diverse, integrated military that defends America today, a
military where excellence in leadership are valued regardless

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of race, ethnicity, or background.
The men of the 320th helped makethat transformation possible
through their service and sacrifice on the beaches of
Normandy and beyond. The technical skills they
displayed have their modern counterparts in today's highly
specialized military units. The challenges they overcame

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adapting equipment, operating under fire, coordinating with
other units, remain fundamental aspects of Modern Warfare.
The courage they demonstrated continues to serve as an example
to soldiers of all backgrounds. Perhaps most importantly, their
story reminds us that history isnever as simple or
straightforward as we might liketo believe.

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Behind every famous battle, every celebrated victory, are
layers of complexity, contributions from unexpected
sources, and stories that have yet to be fully told.
By recovering and honoring the story of the 320th, we enrich
our understanding not just of D-Day or World War 2, but of the
long, unfinished journey toward making America's practice align

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with its principles. We acknowledge both the
injustice these men faced in thepatriotism they displayed
Despite that injustice. We recognize both the progress
that has been made since their time in the distance yet to
travel. In closing, let us remember not
just what the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion did, but what

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they represented the best of America's potential, fighting
for a future where all Americanswould be judged not by the color
of their skin, but by the quality of their character and
their contributions to the common good.
Let us honor their memory by continuing the work they began,
the work of building an America that lives up to its highest
ideals, that recognizes the contributions of all its

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citizens, and that faces honestly both the darkest and
brightest chapters of its history.
The next time you hear about D-Day, I hope you'll think of
those barrage balloons floating above the chaos of Omaha and
Utah beaches, and of the brave men who put them there.
Men who fought for freedom they themselves had yet to fully
experience. Men whose courage and

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determination helped change not just the course of a war, but
the course of history. This has been Steve Matthews for
WW2 stories. Until next time, remember that
history is not just about dates and events.
It's about people, their choicesand their courage in the face of
overwhelming challenges.