Missing information?
Do you have any additional information you would like to share about a soldier?
Submit- Full
name
GOODWIN, Junior P - Date of
birth
1925 -
Age
unknown -
Place of birth
Elkins, Randolph County, West Virginia -
Hometown
Beckley, Raleigh County, West Virginia
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
35773579 -
Rank
Staff Sergeant -
Function
Assistant Radio Operator/Ball Turret Gunner -
Unit
416th Bombardment Squadron,
99th Bombardment Group, Heavy
-
Awards
Air Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters
Death
-
Status
Killed in Action - Date of
death
8 February 1945 - Place of
death
Mitterlobming, Austria
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Lorraine
| Plot | Row | Grave |
|---|---|---|
| B | 21 | 57 |
Immediate family
-
Members
Delbert P. Goodwin (father)
Virginia E. (Boggess) Goodwin (mother)
Evelyn L. Goodwin (sister)
Samuel L. Goodwin (brother)
Elizabeth M. Goodwin (sister)
Plane data
- Serial
number
42-32071 -
Data
Type: B-17G
Nickname: Freddy
Destination: Graz, Austria
Mission: Bombing of the marshalling yard
MACR: 12082
More information
S/Sgt Junior P. Goodwin enlisted in Huntington, West Virginia, on 1 September 1943.S/Sgt Edward J. Balog:
“On 8 February 1945, I was flying on ship #673. Our ship was flying left wing to second element lead. Over target area, while making a 360-degree turn, two ships in the second group in front of ours, were seen to collide with each other. One ship went into a flat spin and I saw a large gouge in its wing. The other ship had its tail completely torn off, and I saw it go down in a steep glide. I saw one chute and then another body appeared just before one of the ships disappeared into the clouds. Whether this chute opened or not, I do not know.”
1st Lt Frank W. Smith Jr.:
“S/Sgt Goodwin went down with the ship, since I believe that he was in the ball turret and had no opportunity to get out due to the rapid tumbling and falling of the ship.”
Source of information: Peter Schouteten, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov – WWII Enlistment Record, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record / Goodwin and Boggess Tree, www.fold3.com, www.findagrave.com, http://aircrewremembered.com/USAAFCombatOperations/Feb.45.html
Photo source: www.ancestry.com – Ruth Mooney