UPDATE:https://rkcolejr.blogspot.com/2022/10/dietrich-claims-his-father-killed-msgt.html The Death of MSgt John WoodsOn the night of July 21, 1950, Woods was informed by Pvt. Richard G. Griffin that the lights at the quarry were out. Griffin and others had stopped hauling rock for the night and a drilling crew was preparing to go to work. Woods sent Griffin to fetch two replacement bulbs for the lighting set.
Floodlights were used to illuminate the quarry at night and were operated using generators. In this case, the generator switch for the lighting was located in a tool shack. Woods and Griffin replaced the bulbs but the lights still did not work so they began checking the line running from the edge of the waterline back to the switch box and Griffin found a break in the line.
Woods sent Griffin to turn the switch off, which he did, and grabbed pliers and friction tape from the tool shed. Griffin said Woods then hollered for him to turn the switch off because he thought current was still in the line. After Griffin told Woods he had already done so, Woods went to check the switch himself to make sure and the two returned to fix the break in the line.
As Griffin, standing only a few feet away, held the line for Woods to splice, he felt a shock and threw down the line as Woods screamed and fell backward into the water. Griffin then yelled to a Cpl. Blanchard to call the ambulance and for Cpl Mahone to hold the switch down. Then Mahone and another soldier pulled Woods from the water. (p. 132)
An investigation conducted by 1Lt. Avery L. Granger later determined that Cpl. Ernest L. Blanchard, reporting for his shift in the quarry noticed the lights were off and unaware that Woods and Griffin were down in the quarry, had turned the switch on. Granger's report stated that although Blanchard had thrown the switch on, the accident was not the result of gross negligence and there was no indication of foul play. (p. 133)
Rumor and SpeculationIt wasn't long before rumors and speculation about Woods's death began to surface, first from sources in Europe, then in the U.S. French magazine, Ici Paris reported that Woods was killed on July 25 by an exploding electric chair and that German scientists, (loyal Nazi's) were working at Enewetok and were responsible for his death.
German newspaper Der Spiegel said Woods had joined an "intelligence service" but left it so he could continue executions using an electric chair and when testing it, "received a lethal shock of 25,000 volts." The London News of the World said that it must have been an underground Nazi agent on Enewetok who killed him.
To my knowledge, Col. French MacLean is the only person who has researched the life and death of John C. Woods. One thing is for certain, George J. Dietrich never reported Woods to the US Navy and was nowhere near Enewetok Atoll on July 21, 1950.
Sources:1.
https://www.thoughtco.com/uss-saratoga-cv-3-23615532,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Melville_(AD-2)
3.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Hovey4. MacLean, French (Col. USA, Ret) American Hangman: MSgt. John C. Woods: The United States Army’s Notorious Executioner in World War II and Nürnberg - Schiffer Military, (2019). p: 22,23,24.
5.
https://www.jordanucmjlaw.com/2021/10/what-are-the-different-types-of-military-discharge/6.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilian_Conservation_Corps7. MacLean, French (Col. USA, Ret) American Hangman: MSgt. John C. Woods: The United States Army’s Notorious Executioner in World War II and Nürnberg - Schiffer Military, (2019). p: 25, 26,27, 30.
8.
https://allthatsinteresting.com/john-c-woods9.
https://military-history.fandom.com/wiki/Enewetak_Atoll10.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Eniwetok11.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Proving_Grounds12.
https://archive.org/details/OperationGreenhouse195113. MacLean, French (Col. USA, Ret) American Hangman: MSgt. John C. Woods: The United States Army’s Notorious Executioner in World War II and Nürnberg - Schiffer Military, (2019). p: 129, 130, 131, 136, 137.
