In Memory Of
John Henry Woody
PFC - E3 - U.S. Army
Age 23, Single
Delta Company
2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry
1st Cavalry Division, Airmobile
Born: March 23, 1942
From Suches, Georgia
Tour began August 16, 1965
Died: Wednesday, November 17, 1965
Ia Drang Valley - South Vietnam
Cause: Small Arms Fire
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Born March 23, 1942 during WWII, John was the first born of John Young and Ava Lou Woody. As he grew up, his
family always called him Johnny or John Henry. The Woody's had a large family of 3 boys and 4 girls. In their order of birth, there was John Henry, Martha Jane, Angie Hope, Jimmy Wayne, Patricia Lee, David Paul and Wanda Murrel. His home in Suches, Georgia was a rural farming community. Being the oldest of the seven kids, he was very close to his mother, and his father was a preacher, giving John a very strong Baptist background. He graduated from high school at Woody Gap High School in Suches in 1960. When John was drafted, he had been engaged to a local girl. He was with Company D, when it shipped out from Charleston, South Carolina on August 18, 1965, on the USNS transport ship, the General Maurice Rose, then traveling through the Panama Canal, to California and then on the Vietnam. He arrived at LZ X-Ray along with the rest of the Battalion on the afternoon of November 16, 1965 and the following day November 17, marched into the ambush at LZ Albany, where he died. The family had been told that John had been shot in the stomach then later had his throat cut. Thanks to his niece Sheila Turner for this information. Her mother was John's sister, Angie. Sheila had been born only 10 days before John died. |
