TRAILER: Orson Welles and the Blind Soldier
Radio Diaries
Radio Diaries & Radiotopia
4.6 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 9 February 2026
⏱️ 2 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On February 12, 1946, an African American soldier heading home from WWII was attacked by a white police officer somewhere in South Carolina. The soldier's name was Isaac Woodard.
No one knew the identity of the officer who attacked Woodard. No one even knew which town it had happened in. So when the famous radio host Orson Welles heard about the case, he vowed to solve it on the air.
Radio Diaries and Radiotopia bring you a new series about a crime in a small southern town that led to the desegregation of the United States military.
The first episode drops February 12th on the Radio Diaries Podcast.
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| 0:00.0 | RadioTopia from PRX. |
| 0:05.0 | I, Isaac Woodward, Jr., being duly sworn to depose and state as follows, I was honorably discharged on February 12, 1946 from Camp Gordon, Georgia. |
| 0:17.0 | On February 12, 1946, an African AmericanAmerican soldier on the day he was discharged was attacked |
| 0:23.6 | by a white police officer somewhere in South Carolina. |
| 0:27.6 | No one knew the identity of the police officer. |
| 0:30.6 | No one even knew which town had happened in. |
| 0:33.6 | My family didn't know where he was. |
| 0:35.6 | Isaac didn't even know where he was. |
| 0:42.6 | The brutality of beating a veteran like that still in uniform coming home from fighting a war, |
| 0:44.6 | that's what got people's attention. |
| 0:47.0 | It was a great who done it. |
| 0:53.6 | When the famous radio host Orson Wells heard about the case, he vowed to solve it on the air. |
| 0:58.3 | Now it seems the officer of the law who blinded the young Negro boy of the affidavit has not been named till we know more about him for just now we'll call the policeman Officer X. |
| 1:04.0 | If he's listening to this, let him listen well. Officer X, you're going to be uncovered. |
| 1:09.9 | We will blast out your name. There's something my father always |
| 1:14.0 | told me. He said, if you have a platform where you can speak, do it. And he did it. He was demanding |
| 1:22.0 | accountability for white people for inflicting violence against black people. It was dramatic, truly dramatic radio. |
| 1:30.2 | I will find means to remove from you all refuge, Officer X. You can't get rid of me. |
| 1:37.6 | He was right on the case. That was a beginning. That was the beginning. |
| 1:42.8 | From Radio Diaries and Radiotopia, we bring you Orson Wells and the Blind Soldier, |
| 1:47.9 | a new series about a crime in a small southern town that led to the desegregation of the United States military. |
| 1:54.5 | First episode drops February 12th on the Radio Diaries podcast. |
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