Decorated veteran who was slain remembered as brave, caring

“They took away someone who was a lifeline to his community,” said Gloria Jetton, one of Woodall’s six children. “They took a valuable citizen away from society.”

North E. Woodall, the grandson of a slave, grew up poor in Mississippi without a formal education.

Later drafted into the Army, he molded himself into a sergeant major, a decorated paratrooper, a veteran of three wars and a husband and father to six children.

Following his service, during which he participated in World War II, Korea and Vietnam before retiring as an E-9 sergeant major, U.S. Army Special Forces, Woodall moved his family to Dayton to live near his sister, North Woodall Jr. said.

One photo displayed Thursday showed Woodall standing with Gen. William Westmoreland, a friend from the 1940s who even consulted Woodall following his appointment to command military operations for the Vietnam War, Jetton said.

Jetton recalled her father’s tales of growing up in segregated Mississippi and his pride in making himself an educated, successful soldier.

“He used to say, 'Even though my country didn’t want me, I wanted my country,’ ” she said.

“He was not afraid to take on the most fearful assignment of war,” Ben Beekman, representing the 82nd Airborne Division, told the audience.

The recipient of two Silver Stars, Woodall had just returned in late June from an Honor Flight trip to Washington, D.C., where he and other veterans traveled in an RV to visit war memorials.

Woodall was found dead by a neighbor at about 11:30 p.m. on July 27 inside the front door of his home at 1028 Walton Ave. The cause of his death was later ruled as blunt-force trauma to the head.

Police have said Woodall was killed during an apparent home invasion, but it remains unclear whether Woodall was struck by an intruder or fell and struck his head during a struggle. Police have received numerous tips from citizens inspired by Woodall’s service record, but few concrete leads have been discovered.

VRI, a medical alert company in this city, has offered a $2,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of those responsible for killing Woodall, the company said last week. The company’s director, Darren Torrence, said VRI provides medical alert services locally, and most of its clients are elderly like Woodall, he said, noting the company and its employees are putting up the $2,000.