William O. Wooldridge

The first Sergeant Major of the Army, William O. Wooldridge, passed away peacefully Monday evening in El Paso, Texas, with his beloved wife Patty, faithfully by his side. Wooldridge, the eighth of ten children of William Robert Wooldridge and Susan Arminta Gray, was born on August 12, 1922, in Shawnee, Pottawatomie County, Okla. In his early childhood, his family left Oklahoma and returned to his father’s home in Crosscut, Brown County, Texas. He enlisted in the Army in 1940, participated in the 1st Infantry Division’s World War II campaigns of North Africa, Sicily and Normandy D-Day landings on June 6, 1944. In October, 1944, then Pvt. Wooldridge distinguished himself for gallantry in action in the battle for the fortress city of Aachen, Germany, receiving the Silver Star. He suffered shrapnel injuries during this fight and was awarded the Purple Heart. Still bandaged, he was back in the lines for the vicious winter combat of the Battle of the Bulge in December, 1944. Again, in the thick of the fighting, then Staff Sgt. Wooldridge received a second Silver Star for his valor under fire. His service and dedication to our nation was rewarded when he was sworn in as the Sergeant Major of the Army on July 11, 1966 by Chief of Staff Gen. Harold K. Johnson. His appointment was recorded in the Congressional Record of the 89th Congress Vol. 112, No. 110. Wooldridge traveled wherever Soldiers were stationed around the globe and never tired of spending time with his troops. In Southeast Asia, he broke bread with Soldiers, listened to their stories of victory and great loss, and took their concerns with him back to the Pentagon, where he worked tirelessly to make changes that would improve their training, morale and readiness. He wanted to make a difference for his enlisted Soldiers —the young men and women who, like him, had chosen to dedicate their lives to preserving freedom, no matter the cost. Wooldridge put pen to paper and shared many of his own personal experiences of combat in his article, “So You’re Headed for Combat: How to Get Ready and What to Expect,” which was published in the January 1968 edition of Army Digest, later renamed Soldiers Magazine. Even after his tenure as sergeant major of the Army, Wooldridge spent time in combat zones with troops as the sergeant major of the Military Assistance Command-Vietnam. When he finally returned from Southeast Asia, he spent his last year on active duty at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. On February 1, 1970, the first sergeant major of the Army retired at Fort MacArthur, Calif., after 30 years and 10 months of service. Even after leaving the ranks and acclimating to civilian life with his wife, Wooldridge continued his steadfast passion for ensuring NCOs were solidly trained and educated. He often visited classrooms of the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy at Fort Bliss and spent time with NCOs enrolled in the Sergeants Major Course. Wooldridge invited Soldiers into his home, always making time to personally counsel and guide them. He never ceased pushing for and working as an advocate for enlisted Soldiers and always tried to instill a sense of pride into every one of them he met. Wooldridge never stopped teaching NCOs what it meant to be a member of the Noncommissioned Officer Corps. He also never forgot that he and so many others before him and after him were responsible for the establishment of the NCO Corps, and that it was the duty of all enlisted Soldiers to carry on its time-honored traditions and customs as “the backbone of the Army.” His assignments included Fort Sam Houston, Texas; Schofield Barracks, Hawaii; Korea; and Fort Riley, Kan. His Army career spanned three wars and 11 campaigns. He will be greatly missed by all the men and women who served side-by-side with him or under his leadership, from his first year in the Army in 1940 to his last moments. He will be especially missed by beloved wife Mildred Ellen Patty Wooldridge, a native of Blount County, Tenn. Wooldridge is also survived by his sister, Vergie Wooldridge Landry (Shawnee, Okla.) children William Robert Wooldridge (Mary), Loveland, Colo., Gentry Terrell Wooldridge (Gail Bartlett) Fort Lee, N.J., Susan Wooldridge Childs (Albert) El Paso, Texas, and Michael Wooldridge (Darlene Montani) Pasadena, Md. His son, John Seitz Wooldridge, died in 1989. He also leaves behind brothers-in-law Emmett Pybus, Stillwater, Okla., Fred M Patty, Greenback, Tenn., sisters-in-law Joan and Leon Pettitt, Plano, Texas, Bess and William McBrayer, Maryville, Tenn., Freda Patty Kempson, Dawsonville, Ga., Linda and Donald Kidd, Maryville, Tenn., as well as many nieces, nephews and extended family members. Wooldridge will lie in state for 24 hours in the East Auditorium of the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy. Public viewing is from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Monday, March 12, 2012 and on Tuesday, March 13, 2012 from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. A Memorial Service will be held Tuesday, March 13, 2012 at 1 p.m. in the Academy’s East Auditorium, immediately followed by a procession and final interment at the Fort Bliss National Cemetery with Full Military Honors. Honorary pall bearers for Sergeant Major of the Army Wooldridge are Mr. William R. Wooldridge, Mr. Gentry Wooldridge, Mr. Michael Wooldridge, 13th Sgt. Maj. of the Army, Kenneth Preston, current Sgt. Maj. of the Army, Raymond Chandler, Command Sgt. Maj. (Ret.) Freddy Escamilla, and Sgt. Maj. (Ret.) Jesse McKinney. Donations can be made to Home for our Troops at homesforourtroops.org. The organization assists wounded veterans with the process of becoming home owners. Patty Wooldridge would like to extend her sincere gratitude to the entire staff at William Beaumont Army Medical Center for the tireless care and gentle compassion provided to her beloved husband, and echoes her gratitude in the words spoken by her husband to Soldiers in April 1967: “Take care of each man as though he were your own brother. He is.”