Johnson Wood papers

Collection — Container: Single Folder Collections - 2001 Box 14 (01.0360-01.0384), Folder: 01.0397 - Folder 1

Identifier: 01.0397

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection relates to Staff Sergeant Johnson Wood's experiences during World War II as a machine gunner in the 100th Infantry Division, 398th Regiment, Company K. His papers include a lengthy and detailed oral history transcript, poems, and a short manuscript. These materials focus on his actions and thoughts during the war, as well as World War II in public memory and his personal relationships with friends and family.

Dates

Created: 1943-1999
Other: Majority of material found in 1943-1947
Other: Date acquired: 09/20/2001

Creator

Wood, Johnson (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open to all researchers.

Conditions Governing Use

All requests for permission to quote, publish, broadcast or otherwise reproduce from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Associate Dean for Special Collections & Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Florida State University Libraries as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.

Biographical or Historical Information

Johnson Wood was born in Williamsburg, New York on April 16, 1925. Wood grew up on Long Island and graduated high school in 1943. Soon after he joined the 100th Infantry Division, 398th Regiment, Company K, as a rifleman and machine gunner.

He was inducted at Camp Upton in New York and trained at Fort Benning in Georgia, Citadel Military College, and Fort Bragg in North Carolina. He had a close friend named Jan Johnson who was in company I of his regiment with whom he celebrated various milestones occurring at similar times. During the Vosges Campaign, he aided in relieving the 45th Division in 1944. Wood then received a Bronze Star along the Maginot Line at the Battle of Bitche.

Soon after he was shot in the knee during a skirmish with the Germans and was sent to a military hospital in April of 1945. He was transferred to a hospital in Nancy, France and was awarded a Purple Heart. Once he was fully healed he met up with his unit in Schwabisch-Gmund, Germany. In mid-1945 he visited Dachau and a few displaced person camps in Germany. He stayed in Germany supervising prisoners of war, including members of the SS and returned home in 1947. He was reluctant to leave because he had a German girlfriend that he was very close to. He was discharged as a Staff Sergeant and used the GI Bill for college. In the late 1990's he moved to Crawfordville, Florida. Johnson Wood passed away on March 18th, 2018 at the age of 92 years old.