About Ed

Edward W. Wood, Jr. was born in Florence, Alabama, on December 12, 1924. He spent his childhood divided between the Gulf Coast and Chicago, Illinois.

His time in higher education was broken into two parts by his service in World War II. He began studying engineering at Loyola University. At eighteen, he volunteered for the draft and was placed by the U.S. Army into a pre-med program at UCLA. At nineteen, he quit the safety of the pre-med program to sign up for line duty, believing that his rightful place was at the front.

He took part in the liberation of France from the Nazis in the late summer of 1944, and was badly wounded in September of that year, while serving in the Armored Infantry of the Seventh Armored Division, Patton’s Third Army. His wounds included a skull fracture, shrapnel in his pelvis, and having part of one buttock sheared off. He was subsequently awarded the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star, the Combat Infantryman’s Badge and other medals.

He worked as city planner for many years after earning undergraduate degrees from the University of Chicago and Stanford University and a Master’s in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In addition to working as a city planner he also taught that subject in Baltimore, Annapolis, Washington D.C., and other locations.

He has published three books stemming from his experience in combat in World War II: On Being Wounded, Beyond the Weapons of Our Fathers, and Worshipping the Myths of World War II. The University of Chicago honored him by quoting from his work in a convocation banner. Howard Zinn also supported his work.

Of Worshipping the Myths, Zinn wrote:

“This intelligent and eloquent rumination by a wounded veteran of ‘the good war,’ with its impassioned renunciation of all wars, could not be more timely. Whatever the moral core of World War II, which Edward Wood freely acknowledges, that experience has been used to create myths, from Vietnam to Iraq, which perpetuate the idea that war is a proper solution for the world’s problems. Wood not only dissects that mythology in its political and artistic forms, but he points, with persuasive argument, to the possibility of a world without war.”

Most recently, he was a guest lecturer and panelist at Regis University’s Center for the Study of War Experience, a guest lecturer in Colorado College’s Peace Studies program and a participant in panels at the United States Air Force Academy. He is also one of five ex-soldiers featured in the documentary, The Good Soldier, which won an Emmy. He died April 12, 2021.

Ed lives on in his work. In addition to his books and many essays, you can also learn about him through his appearances:

Documentaries

Bearing Witness: The Writings of Edward W. Wood, Jr.: Documentary by Boyd McCollum. This 2012 documentary was based on many conversations with Ed. Ed discusses his life and his work.

The Good Soldier: A documentary from Lexy Lovell and Michael Uys featuring four veterans from four wars. Available to stream from Amazon Prime or Apple TV. To see a clip of Ed, click here and click on Ed’s photo in the upper left of the screen.

Interviews

Bill Moyers interview

WWII experiences on DVD