Glenn S. Goodwin

Name: Glenn Soule Goodwin

Service number: 31423494

Born: November 27 1924, Newton, Massachusetts

Hometown: Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio

Family:

Charles A. Goodwin (father)

Mildred L. Hunt (mother)

Joyce Goodwin (sister)

Rank: Private First Class

Division: 28th Infantry Division

Regiment: 110th Infantry Regiment

Enlistment: 11 October 1943, Boston Massachusetts

Status: MIA

Date of death: 21 December 1945

Awards: Bronze Star, Purple Heart

Grave Number: Walls of the Missing

Cemetery: American War Cemetery Ardennes

Other information:

Glenn was a very promising student as we can see in the articles from the 1942 Columbus Academy yearbook.

He finished academy "Cum Laude" and went to Harvard to become a Chemical Engineer.

Service time:

Glenn was in L-Company. L-Company was near Consthum, Luxembourgh, when they were attacked by the Germans during the start of the Ardennes offensive, December 16th, 1944. The regiment had to retreat and the first time they were able to reorganize was December 20th. It was then that Glenn Goodwin, amongst others, was listed as MIA.

Later, searches were done in the area where these men went missing and the remains of unknown buried soldiers were compared with dental records, but no match could be made.

From the 1946 Harvard Yearbook:

Pfc Glenn Soule Goodwin was born in Newton, Massachusetts and prepared at Columbus Academy, Columbus, Ohio. He was awarded a National scolarship and entered college in September 1942. He was a chemistry Major and was at Harvard three termes. He was on the Rifle team, rowed on the Freshman crew, and was a member of the Outing club. He lived in Lowell House. In November 1943, Glenn entered the army and received training in the A.S.T.P. at Fort Benning and with the Infantry at Camp Livingston, Louisiana. He went overseas in September 1944, as a replacement in the 110th Infantry Regiment of the 28th Division. After action in the Hurtgen Forest, Glenn had just returned to a rest area when the German attack was launched. On December 16, 1944, during the initial German attack of the Battle of the Bulge he was killed in Luxembourg. Out of 184 in his company, only fourteen could be accounted for.

His name is listed in Harvard College's Mermorial church among those who perished in WWII.

Glenn's father was a school teacher and moved to Columbus in 1931 to teach at the Columbus Academy.

According to Charles' obituary they moved there because the Depression and jobs were scarce in Massachusetts.

Sources: http://www.adoptiegraven-database.nl, Julie Callahan of the Columbus library, Elizabeth Montgomery of Harvard Memorial Church, Harvard University Archives, Patricia Gix Hunt

Glenn's name on the Walls of the missing, during my visit on July 27th, 2013

Some pictures of the Harvard Memorial Church where Glenn's name is on the Walls of Honor

In Memory of thowe who gave their lives in Word War II

Some extracts from the Columbus Academy 1942 Yearbook.

A while ago I was able to contact relatives of Glenn. Mr. Leigh Hunt is Glenn’s cousin and thanks to Patricia Gix Hunt (Leigh is her father-in-law), I was able to ask him some questions about Glenn.

Did you grow up together with Glenn?

We didn’t actually grow up together. We would get together on family vacations sometimes at our grandparents home in Cornish Flat, New Hampshire. But Glenn’s family had moved to Ohio and I lived in Connecticut, so we didn’t get together too often. We did some hiking and camping together, both families. I remember that Glenn, being younger, sometimes chased mearound. One time me and another older cousin met to shoot their rifles. We were probably teenagers. I had a Remington and my older cousin had a Winchester, or vice versa. But Glenn’s Mom was kind of a pacifist and she wouldn’t let Glenn get a gun. Glenn pestered her so much she finally relented and he also got a rifle, like us.

During the war, Leigh was drafted into the Army and was sent to India to do cryptography (to decode and intercept enemy communications).

Did you keep contact when you both entered service?

We didn’t keep in touch much after we entered the service. I think we might have written a letter or two.

What do you know about Glenn’s service?

Glenn was assigned to work with a group of men to work on developing chemical warfare [Glenn was studying at Harvard to become a Chemical Engineer], but then they figured out that Hitler wasn’t using chemical warfare, so they dissolved that group and re-assigned Glenn to the infantry. One or two days after the start of the Ardennes Offensive, Glenn was killed.

Where you already back at home when you heard that Glenn was MIA?

No, I was still in the service when Glenn got killed.

How did Glenn’s family react to the fact that he was Missing In Action?

Glenn’s Mom had a very rough time when Glenn was reported MIA. She wrote letters to almost all of the men who served with Glenn asking about the particulars. Finally, out of the approximately 100 letters that she wrote, one soldier contacted her back to tell her that Glenn was hit by a bullet in the head, killing him instantly. So he did not suffer. That stopped her quest but the family doesn’t know for sure if that is how he died. Anyway, until she heard from that soldier, she did hold out hope that maybe he had been captured and would turn up later or that he was injured in some hospital somewhere.

Is there something else you want people to know about Glenn?

People just felt Glenn’s death was a tragic loss of potential [Glenn finished Columbus Academy “Cum Laude” and went to Harvard University afterwards to become a Chemical Engineer].

Leigh and Patrica

Picture of Leigh and Glenn (on the right) at their grandparents house, ready to go fishing. This picture was taken in 1931 in Cornish Flat, New Hampshire.

This document contains the names of all enlisted men and officers from Company L who have been awarded the Combat Infantry Badge for fighting against the enemy during the period 9 november to 1 december 1944.