My name is William K. Goodwin and yesterday was my 58th birthday.
I am number two of four boys raised by a father who was a Drill Sergent in the Marines. My parents divorced when I was twelve and I ran away from home two days after turning fifteen. I returned home on my 17th birthday to get my mom’s signature to enlist because I was too young. I arrived to basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky on 1/17/1974 at 17.
I remember a couple weeks later hearing we had signed a cease fire agreement in Vietnam and also remember in April of 75 the Fall of Saigon. I had no idea where I was going nor did I care. I was tested after basic and sent to White Sands Missile Range at Ft.Bliss,Texas for two months and then to Bad Kissingen, Germany with A-1-1, 16Echo,Fire Control Operator,Hawk Missile. I lived on a missile site with a 24 on/24 off/schedule until my last day when I was debriefed and discharged January 18, 1976.
I had a Secret NATO Security clearance for some reason and was never allowed to travel except back to the US. I was just this young kid among mainly Warrant Officers on a highly secretive missile site. I was a Spec4 at the end of two years and offered E-5 to re-up and said no.
I’m someone who lost a daughter, my mom and both my little brothers over the last six years and barely shed a tear…. and yet when I visited the Vietnam War Memorial, I collapsed, sobbing like a child halfway along the wall.
~ William K. Goodwin, 16Echo,Hawk Missle,Fire Control Operator, Bad Kissingen,Germany,A-1-1 Air Defense
Comes A Soldier’s Whisper is grateful to William Goodwin for his service and for sharing his story.
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