by Guy Page
The Vermont House today honored Lt. Col. Enoch O’Dell “Woody” Woodhouse, who enlisted in the army at age 17 in 1944 and served with the Tuskegee Airmen, an all-black fighter pilot unit.
Upon completion of Officer Candidate School, Woodhouse – a Boston native – joined the 332nd Air Base Group in Columbus Ohio, where the legendary Tuskegee Airmen had just set up shop. Colonel Benjamin Davis, Jr. commanded the base. Davis sent Woodhouse to finance school to serve airmen as Finance Officer and Paymaster. He would continue to serve in the Army and the newly formed U.S. Air Force until 1997. During his military service he was on the “last flight out” of Havana, Cuba, in 1959, where he saw Fidel Castro waving his rifle from the control tower.