Date of birth:

October 16th, 1918

Date of death:

January 7th, 1999

Buried on:

Arlington National Cemetery
Plot: 13. Grave: 14162.

Nationality:

American

Goodwin enlisted in the Maryland Army National Guard briefly in 1934, but it was his civilian construction job working with explosives that influenced his military career.27 Drafted into the Army on 21 April 1941, Goodwin served in the cavalry until May 1942 when he joined the OSS predecessor, the Coordinator of Information. After creating and supervising a demolition course, he was subsequently commissoned and received parachute and field training after which he was sent to U.S. Army Forces in the Middle East (USAFIME) in Cairo, Egypt, where he was a Dispatching and Supply Officer with the 2677th Regiment, OSS (Provisional), managing OSS property, budgets, and inspecting agents prior to their insertion.Then, on 19 January 1944, CPT Goodwin jumped into a British-led mission in Yugoslavia (Bosnia). After a year of German occupation, resistance forces in Yugoslavia began to receive allied covert assistance. The British and Americans parachuted special agents into Yugoslavia to assist the local insurgents. Operations were controlled by the British SOE. Beginning in 1944 and lasting until the end of the war, Operation Flotsam supplied the insurgence through the use of air drops. While serving with the OSS, a SOE colleague of Goodwin's was Major Randolph Churchill, son of the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. See the citation of his Military Cross below for further details.

After World War II, Goodwin saw action in Korea and was later assigned to the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions. During the late 1950s, he was one of a small group of officers who formed the Special Forces. Colonel Goodwin retired from the Army in 1962. At that time he was serving with the 11th Engineer Group, Mannheim, Germany.

That year, he entered the business world and ultimately formed MIA Associates, a Garden City-based interior design firm that boasted some of the nation's largest corporations as clients.

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Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Captain

Unit:

Special Operations Executive (SOE), British Government

Awarded on:

September 24th, 1945

For his service in Yugoslavia, OSS chief Major General (MG) William J. Donovan presented Goodwin with the Legion of Merit on 24 September 1945.

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Captain

Unit:

Special Operations Executive (SOE), British Government

At 1500 hrs ? on 20th Sep 44 Capt GOODWIN was accompanying, in the role of observer, an assaulting force of the Jugoslav Army of National Liberation against an enemy strong point covering the double track ? line railway bridge across the river SAVA at LITIJA (H 46 05, E 14 50) between LUBLJANA and MAGNES. The strong point consisted of an old castle surrounded by barbed wire and an open space giving all round field field of fire and was held by about 150 Germans. After a bombing attack, which had been arranged by Capt GOODWIN, was completed, two attempts to assault the castle were made. These however failed with heavy casualties and the Jugoslav commander was killed. Seeing that if the attack was NOT pressed home at once, The Germans might hold on until reinforcements arrived, Capt GOODWIN, although only present as an observer, too the initiative and together with the Partisan left in charge and one other Partisan, rushed across the open space under heavy fire, leapt the barbed wire and reached the castle. This action inspired the remainder of the Assault force who quickly followed and together with Capt GOODWIN forced an entry into the castle, whereupon the majority of the German garrison surrendered.

Capt GOODWIN was wounded by a German hand grenade while the remainder of the garrison were being mopped up.

The JANL forces continued with the attack and succeeded in destroying the raailway bridge shortly after dark.

Capt GOODWIN's action during the assault on the main enemy strong point was a large factor in its fall and the consequent successful destruction of this important railway bridge."

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