Sergeant Isaac Woodard Blinded by Police While Still in Uniform

On February 12, 1946, Sergeant Isaac Woodard, still in his Army uniform hours after his honorable discharge, is dragged from a Greyhound bus in Batesburg, South Carolina by Police Chief Lynwood Shull after a dispute. Shull beats Woodard with a nightstick, gouging his eyes. Woodard is left blind for life. He is charged with disorderly conduct. Shull is acquitted by an all-white jury in 1946. The case outrages President Truman and directly influences Executive Order 9981 desegregating the military.