WASHINGTON–Ninety-nine-year old Brig. Gen. (Retired) Enoch “Woody” Woodhouse, who is among the last of the surviving Tuskegee Airmen, offered a credit union audience here an animated and spirited range of advice and history, ranging from what credit unions are really about to quoting from Dante’s Inferno to sharing a story of fortitude in the face of racism in the 1940s South.
In remarks to the Defense Credit Union Council’s Defense Matters meeting, held in conjunction with America’s Credit Unions GAC, Woodhouse shared portions of his distinguished story. He enlisted in what was then the U.S. Army Air Forces in 1944 and became part of the famed Tuskegee Airmen, the first Black military aviators in the U.S. Armed Forces during World War II, where he was part of the segregated 332nd Fighter Group, and served in administrative roles.
After the war, Woodhouse continued his service in the U.S. Air Force, retiring in 1970 after 28 years on active duty. He later earned a law degree and practiced civil rights law.
‘Just a Regular Person’
“I am not a principal member of Goldman Sachs. I’m not on the board of JPMorgan. I’m just a regular person like yourself; the workers,” Woodhouse told the meeting. “But you are a special type of banker. You’re not the kind that sits in your Gucci dress and Saville Row suit and collects money. You are bankers who help people like me. Normal American people. Service people. You help preserve their wealth, not increase your wealth. There is a difference between bankers and credit union people.
“You have to acknowledge people for what they do and who they represent,” Woodhouse advised. “Bankers are owners and investors in people’s material wealth. I know people who make seven figures, eight figures. But you know what? Most of them are not happy. Most of them are not blessed like we are.”
More Advice
Woodhouse’s comments spanned a wide range of topics, including:
How to Live to 99
“You can also attain that age. It sounds stupid for me to say that. Someone asked me, ‘What’s the secret? How do you do it?’ Well, I’m not telling you.”
Words to Live By
“There are a few words I always use. Do the right thing. That sounds simple. If you go into a lawyer’s office, you will see his degrees and certificates on the wall and see all the lawbooks he had to buy. The main body of law we have today that we can all follow are the 10 Commandments. If the world would be like that it would be a better place. But we cannot hope for that unless we are part of the solution.”
The Economy
“People ask, ‘How can we survive in this economy?’ I prefer to say ‘thrive.’ You have a special role. You are helping your members maintain and preserve their wealth. You’re here to instill in them the necessity of thrift and economy. Why thrift? We see all these ads. Buy this medication. Buy this beauty product. Thrift requires discipline. But we can’t give discipline until we ourselves are disciplined.”
The First Discipline
“I learned discipline when I was 16: Make your bed every morning.”
Lives Determined by ‘Flukes’
“I’m here by a fluke. The date Dec. 7, 1941. Pearl Harbor Day. The day of infamy. For younger people their date is 9/11. Why do I say dates? It’s from the date we put in our mind that will determine the course of our lives. These are the decisions you will be using to inspire your clients.”
Levels of Hell
Woodhouse noted that in Dante’s Inferno, in the third ring of the seventh circle of Hell, which is reserved for the violent, one can find a certain group of competitors to credit unions.
“One of the worst levels of Hell were those who were committing usury,” he said.
Final Advice
“We are all not victims. We are all the result of what we put into our lives and what we give out,” Woodhouse said. “It’s not enough for us to accept; we have to give. We can give wise counsel. Wise counsel requires that we present ourselves in the way we want to show others. If you drive a Lamborghini, it’s ironic that you would advise people to be thrifty. But we have the privilege to serve.”
Showing Class & Courage in Face of Racism
Later, during a Q&A with DCUC President and CEO Tony Hernandez, Woodhouse shared a story with credit unions about an American past that isn’t as far in the past as many may think.
Woodhouse, whose career in the military was delayed when he arrived late to boot camp as a 17-year-old because he and other Black soldiers were told the train they needed to take was for whites only, was eventually assigned by the camp commander to train to become a paymaster, and he was sent to what he said was then the Harvard Business School of military accounting at Fort Lee in Virginia. Woodhouse had become an officer and at Camp Lee there was an elite officers club with “white tablecloths and starched linen and the proper silver.”
‘You’re Not a Member’
“I went there for lunch. I put an extra shine on my shoes and adjusted my tie. When I went, I stood there at attention for about 15 minutes and watched people come, grab a sandwich and leave. And I was still standing there,” he recalled. “I asked a waiter why I wasn’t being served, and he said he had never seen a Black officer before. As I’m standing there, about 100 feet away my eyes locked on the club manager. He knew he was going to have a problem, and I knew I was going to be a problem. I made the first move after he said, ‘May I help you?’ I said, ‘Yes, I am here to be served.’ He said, ‘You’re not a member of the club.’ It was courteous and nonconfrontational.
“After our silent conversation, the stakes were high. For me, I was in a place where I had to eat. I couldn’t eat in the enlisted mess. He said, ‘I can serve you. But I’m going to have to put a screen around you.’ He brought this Japanese screen, and it cut me to the quick. And they brought my food. It was a steak, but I couldn’t eat it. Not in a room with fellow officers with a screen around me. I left. I wanted to be nonconfrontational. Sometimes you have to look to an alternative to achieve your goal. When bad things happen to you, good things can come out if you stand tall and if you suck it up.”
Below, a mural that is a tribute to the Tuskegee Airmen in Boston’s Logan Airport, Terminal C, that features Woodhouse.
