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| Lt. Clinton Goodwin served in the 777th Tank Battalion in Germany. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/140561857/clinton-foster-goodwin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separate_tank_battalion |
Clinton was born June 28, 1919 in Haverhill, Massachusetts. His parents Clinton Sr. and Esther were born in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, respectively. His father worked as a supervisor in the public school system and as a civil engineer. Clinton had a younger sister and a younger brother. He graduated from Haverhill High School in the Class of 1937, where he was in the Dramatic Club and played basketball and baseball. In 1939 Clinton was attending Massachusetts State College in Boston majoring in Landscape Architecture, was a member of the School Band and the Landscape Club, and played basketball, hockey and soccer. He later attended the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.
He enlisted in the US Army in July 1941 and became a Lieutenant in the 777th Tank Battalion. The 777th was organized as one of a number of independent tank battalions, which were intended to be temporarily attached to an infantry, armored, or airborne division according to need. While armored divisions were expected to perform the massed breakout thrusts that were increasingly commonplace in the European theater, the smaller separate battalions were essential in supporting and maintaining smaller infantry advances. The separate tank battalions performed well in Europe and Italy, but new equipment was prioritized for the armored divisions, so they typically were equipped with less capable tanks than their armored division counterparts.
The 777th deployed to the European theater in late 1944 and was initially attached to the 28th Infantry Division in February 1945, and supported the 28th’s advance thru the Monschau Forest in Germany. In March 1945 the 777th was detached from the 28th ID and attached to the 69th ID, and crossed the Rhine River with the 69th to support their advance thru western Germany. During the advance, the tanks of the 777th worked closely with infantry and artillery units to dislodge the enemy town by town. 1Lt Goodwin presumably served as a tank commander and was killed in combat on 22 April 1945, just thirteen days before Germany’s unconditional surrender.
Clinton Foster Goodwin Jr. is buried in Linwood Cemetery in Haverhill, Massachusetts.
Thank you Lt. Goodwin for your sacrifice. Let's Earn It for Clinton.
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This profile was written by Bob Fuerst. "I’m a NASA engineer, B-17 Flying Fortress enthusiast, and amateur genealogist so this kind of research is an ideal outlet for me. But more than anything, it’s a way to express my sincere appreciation for The Greatest Generation and the sacrifices that they made, especially those who made the ultimate sacrifice. They should never be forgotten and I’m grateful to Don for allowing me to play a small part in honoring them."
Last year on this date I profiled Pearl Harbor Fallen Howard Rosenau. You can read about Howard here.
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Foster was my uncle - my dad was his younger brother. Thank you for this post.
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome. Feel free to add any more details about Lt. Goodwin. Don Milne
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