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.