What would Private Goodman think?

Private Goodman died in a segregated army fighting for a segregated country. I wonder what he would think about our country electing Barack Obama as president.

In any case, today,
tell a veteran
"Thank You."

IN MEMORIAM

In honor of all the men and women who paid the ultimate price for our country. May their sacrifices never be forgotten.

Or Lost Private Lane?

a new clue from another soldier

Some papers from the National Personnel Records Center arrived yesterday. The records were not Private Goodman's, but those of my great-uncle, Henry Howard Cheshire. Private Goodman and my Grandma's brother had several things in common. Both enlisted from Robeson County. Both left behind two children when they joined up. And both died in September 1944 as US Army privates in the ETO.

My mother can vividly recall my grandmother weeping at the kitchen sink, the War Department telegram with news of Howard's death in her hands. When I was growing up- a boy enamored with planes and ships and parachutes- I'd often ask about Grandma's brother who died fighting the Nazis. The answers were always basic facts: he was killed in Germany driving an Army truck. While trying to piece together Private Goodman's story, I decided to see what I could learn about my great-uncle too.

The two records that came in the mail Saturday contain some new information, and some curious tidbits. They also give insight into the heartbreak the families of the fallen would have felt.

The first record is a "Battle Casualty Report." He died on September 20th, 1944. His "place of casualty" is somewhere called "Germany2." His service was listed as "Infantry," later corrected to "Expert Infantry." No mention of a specific unit or company, even a division. The type of casualty is "Died Of Wounds." It then lists his beneficiaries and who to contact. My great-uncle's wife and family weren't notified of his death until October 23rd, a full month later.

The second record is titled "Report of Death." It has basically the same information, but detailed in a different way. It lists his cause of death as "Wounds rec'd in action." His place of death is "European Area."

The new clue I mentioned in the title? It's actually from the cover letter. It says, "Additional information may be available in the casualty file maintained by the Department of the Army. We suggest you contact the following office for possible assistance: US Army Human Resources Command."

So while I'm waiting on the NPRC to tell me what they have (or do not have) on Private Goodman, two new requests are being mailed off to Virgina. Stay tuned..

not giving up yet

While I'm still waiting to get some kind of feedback from the government, I'd like to make some things a little clearer.

I'm not trying to make Private Goodman a hero.

I'm not trying to make him the only African-American soldier or sailor worthy of respect.

I'm simply trying to share what I learn about one young man who died thousands of miles away from home, fighting for a country that often didn't give him what it promised him.

I don't know what else to say except I'm not giving up yet.

another soldier from a different time

Nothing new to report about Private Goodman. Somewhere in
Saint Louis someone is searching through a database- maybe even some charred folders- looking to see if the information I've requested was lost.

I did spot this interesting article about a blog focusing on the experience of another soldier. Wonder what that infantryman would think of his simple letters home, just ink and paper, now eagerly awaited by strangers all around the world nearly a century later, via electricity.

I wonder how Private Goodman would feel, too.

New Year hopes..

Nothing new to report, unless you count the New Year. The forms the government asked me to fill out are back in its hands, but with the holidays, I don't expect much to happen for a while. Here's hoping some leads will start panning out.

In the meantime, I'll be reading something my friend Chris gave me a for Christmas, a new copy of "The Good War" by Studs Terkel. I'd heard of Studs before, as a broadcaster and actor, but never knew he was a Pulitzer Prize-winning author. I'm looking forward to reading it, and maybe getting a better understanding of what Private Goodman experienced and endured.

Government paperwork

It shouldn't be a surprise. The one thing to expect when dealing with bureaucracy is paperwork. Lots of paperwork. When I got a very prompt reply from the National Personnel Records Center, I tore into the letter, mailbox still open. My heart sank when I read what was inside.

The government wants me to fill out more forms for Private Goodman. What's so frustrating is they want the same information that I supplied them in my original request. Most bothersome though is this comment: "Many service files were lost in a disastrous fire on July 12, 1973." It doesn't say Private Goodman's file was destroyed, but when a government agency is asking you for information they are supposed to have, it doesn't look good.

So I'll return the second form with what I can add and hope for the best. Until then, keep your fingers crossed.

3193rd Quartermaster Service Company

This can't be for real. Not only is Private Goodman proving hard to find, I can't track down his unit either. According to his headstone, he served in the 3193rd Quartermaster Service Company. I've only found one other soldier with the same unit number. Could this be a mistake on his headstone?

Out of thin air

Searching for Private Goodman is one heck of a challenge. I don't mean that as a complaint. Heck- I even admire the way he seems to have had a perfect storm of circumstances that are making it so hard to track him down. It's like he enlisted out of thin air. Learning more about him is going to take much more work than I imagined. Maybe on the level of my 3rd-great grandfather Levi Woodberry Kimball, who my family has been trying to find since he disappeared more than 140 years ago.

While I'm waiting for Private Goodman's military records, I've been going back through some of the most promising census records and birth records. None has a direct hit with his first name, which is very surprising. With a name like Levester, it should be easier to find him, as opposed to someone named John. Maybe Levester was his middle name, or a name he assumed as a young adult. In any case, I have to keep an open mind until I find something concrete.

In the meantime, I'm wading through a lot of records. As tough as I make that sound, this "research from the rec room" would not have been possible five years ago. The number of records ancestry.com is making available online is amazing. While there's nothing like holding the original will from an ancestor in your hands at the State Archives, when you can do everything but that from your own easy chair- that's pretty incredible.
(Just my $.02 worth- I am not compensated by ancestry.com in any way.)

"Died, Non-Battle"

The words jumped off the screen and hit me between the eyes. "Died, non-battle." There was no other explanation. Only Private Goodman's rank and service number, arranged in a list with the other war dead from Robeson County (including my grandmother's oldest brother, Henry Howard Cheshire.) So now, there is a new mystery about the elusive Private Goodman.

You can find this Honor List and others here.

I mailed off the request for Private Goodman's records to a government agency in St. Louis. Not sure what to expect, even when to expect them. But I'm hopeful there will be some clues inside.

Another way forward

The census work is taking more effort than usual. Not slacking up- it's just gonna be sluggish. I'll keep you posted.

In the meantime, there's another way forward with Private Goodman's "service number." That's the number the Army gave him when he enlisted, used before the Social Security Number became the preferred method. Every record about Private Goodman has his service number on it. The rub is unless you're next-of-kin, the government only allows limited information upon request. It's worth the effort to mail off and see what happens. The way our government works though, I'm expecting a bit of a wait.

So how did I find Private Goodman's service number? I stumbled upon it at the Normandy American Cemetery & Memorial website. I searched for Private Goodman's grave location and the service number was included in the record.

First stop: the census

Usually my first step in genealogical research is to look through census records. It's like one-stop shopping. Almost everyone is listed in a census at some point in their life, the records often link other people together so you have more clues, and you get a sense of place.

So this morning, I began looking for "Levester Goodman," born about 1920 in North Carolina. Nothing. How about "L Goodman?" Bunch of those but no direct hit. Hmmm, gotta think this through.

For the moment, I am assuming he lived his entire life in North Carolina, as his enlistment record hints. He could have been listed in three censuses: in 1920, 1930 and 1940. Only two of those are currently available: 1920 and 1930. (The 1940 census won't be made public until 2012.) Complicating things is the fact he was born in one of those census years, so he might not have been alive when the census taker came calling. So if he can't be found in the 1930 census, this is could be a dead end.

I broaden my search more. Here's a promising name, a "Jasper L. Goodman," in both the 1920 and 1930 records for Sampson County. It's next door to Robeson County so it's worth a look. The name isn't exact- ditto for the the birth year. But they're worth looking into next time.

The search begins...

Today is November 11th, 2007. Veterans Day. A day set aside for Americans to honor the men and women who have served and are serving their country in the armed forces. An appropriate day to begin this humble attempt to honor one soldier's ultimate sacrifice.

Private First Class Levester Goodman died on September 16th, 1944, somewhere in Normandy, France. We know that from his headstone, which my wife and I came across during our August visit to the Normandy American Cemetery & Memorial. Private Goodman's headstone is one of the first that visitors see. Captivated by the "North Carolina" inscription on his cross, I snapped the picture you see here, hoping to learn more about him once I got back home to the Tarheel state.

When I finally began searching for information on Private Goodman, very few tidbits came easily. The only real information I found was an abstract of his enlistment record at ancestry.com. His enlistment states that he was born in Robeson County, North Carolina, in 1920. He signed up on April 30th, 1942 at Fort Bragg, not far from where he was born. He had a grammar school education and worked as a geographer in civil life. He was listed as being single, with dependents. He was a big man for his day: 6'1" and 174 pounds. Most surprising to me, he was black.

Why is the fact that he was black so surprising? Simply because he was a man who did not enjoy many of the rights he was signing up to defend. He could not even drink from the same water fountain as a white man, yet there he was, enlisting for his country in a time of grave need. He wasn't drafted. It seems he was signing up of his own free will. A remarkable act of selflessness.

So I hope you join me in honoring Private Goodman here. As I uncover more about him, I will post it on this blog and share it. If you have information that can help, I invite you to leave a comment.