In memory of 1st Lt Russell Goodchild (UPDATE 7-15-15)
USMarine6
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Memorial Day has different meaning for all of us. For me its remembering those who have gone before us. 1st Lt Russell Goodchild is my great uncle. He was a pilot in the Army Air Corps back during WWII. Like many men and woman of that era he volunteered to go off to war to fight for a greater good. On June 6 1944 he had six successful bombing missions over France. He had met his requirement for the day but his commander asked for volunteers for another run. Goodchilds crew stepped forward for the extra duty. That seventh mission was their last as they were shot down and the entire crew lost.
My family has a rich military history and although this is a very condensed version of the story I think you all will get the meaning. I shouldn't even be alive today because of the people in my family that have served. My Grandpa on my moms side was also at the invasion on Normandy in the Navy and my other Gramps was a Marine in the south pacific and the reason I became a Marine myself. These are the men and woman that I think about not just on Memorial Day but everyday. Ive learned a lot from these men and like to think I live my life the way they would have. By wearing my heart on my sleeve and listening to the stories that they have to tell. If you come across a vet don't only thank them ask them about their service and listen to how proud they are to have served our great nation.
In closing Ive attached a few pictures of 1st Lt Goodchilds belongings from the war. Ive also posted a coin just to keep it coin related.
God bless us all and God bless America
This is Russell's Purple heart. (notice the D-day date of 6,6,44)
A letter he wrote home just days before his death
His flight glasses that they able to get from the wreckage
just a coin
My family has a rich military history and although this is a very condensed version of the story I think you all will get the meaning. I shouldn't even be alive today because of the people in my family that have served. My Grandpa on my moms side was also at the invasion on Normandy in the Navy and my other Gramps was a Marine in the south pacific and the reason I became a Marine myself. These are the men and woman that I think about not just on Memorial Day but everyday. Ive learned a lot from these men and like to think I live my life the way they would have. By wearing my heart on my sleeve and listening to the stories that they have to tell. If you come across a vet don't only thank them ask them about their service and listen to how proud they are to have served our great nation.
In closing Ive attached a few pictures of 1st Lt Goodchilds belongings from the war. Ive also posted a coin just to keep it coin related.
God bless us all and God bless America
This is Russell's Purple heart. (notice the D-day date of 6,6,44)
A letter he wrote home just days before his death
His flight glasses that they able to get from the wreckage
just a coin
6
Comments
Thank you for sharing these private items, and your stories. The term 'hero' is overused. Not in this case.
God Bless you, Russ Goodchild. Thank you for your service to our country.
Dave
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
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of may enjoy ours. My condolences to his family and you.
Thank you for my freedom!!
<< <i>Thanks for that post. It's good to be reminded of what Memorial Day is all about. >>
Bob
Semper Fi
Just another coin to keep it non OT
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
Thank you for sharing this!
Thank you for your service as well!
Wow is right!
What an amazing find that letter is!!
Happy, humble, honored and proud recipient of the “You Suck” award 10/22/2014
USMarine6, Thank you for your Service and Sacrifice.
The typewritten letter really made me cry.
Thank You for posting this.
D-Day bump
@USMarine6
Well done to all the past and present veterans!
this thread certainly deserved to be brought to the top. The bravery and sacrifice of WWII service members is awe inspiring.
Great story!
Thanks to those who've served, and to their families.
I've always had a rough time with Memorial Day because my Dad was killed two days before I was born at Monte Cassino in 1944. I googled another big cemetery today, in Italy, at Nettuno. If you saw the before and after pictures of the light that went out in my Mom's eyes, some service family members will understand that my feeling about this comes more directly from living with my mother's own dark unknowable grief than my own loss by absence of someone whom I never knew.
For a couple of generations, this has been more a solemn time for me than a painful one.
But the last three years, and I'm now 75, a troubling question has come up for me that I never had before.
I was two, so unknowing when they unraveled their "Pat Tillman" on the grown-ups in our family.
Tillman, in Afghanistan a couple of generations after my Dad. was, as he was, killed by friendly fire.
Both stories originally officially suppressed.
Was something redeemed?
Or now besmirched?
Were Tillman and my Dad and John McCain all, when you really get down to it, just losers?
This thread should be resurrected each year at this time.....I fear that our hero's are slowly being forgotten as the years pass. Schools no longer teach history as they did in my youth. Most children today have zero knowledge of the war and the sacrifices made to ensure liberty for America and Europe....Very sad. Cheers, RickO
Great story, thank you for sharing. God Bless all that have served.
My father was a B-24 Bomber pilot in Italy during WW2 and survived being shot down twice, as did his crew, once in Yugoslavia and once in Zador for which he received the DFC. These amazing young men of this era left homes as farm boys, laborers, students and all other walks of life to fight for our country and the free world scared but resolute in doing their duty. My God, what brave men.
Thanks to all who have served or are serving.
Jim
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.....Mark Twain
jesbroken, could not have said it any better. My dad hit the beach with the 4th Marine Division invasion force on Iwo Jima on Feb. 19, 1945. He was there for the duration and survived with hardly a scratch. We owe these brave men so much, yet most of the population of our country remain clueless. Band of Brothers, the book and the TV series, and Saving Private Ryan, should be a mandatory part of every High School curriculum in the country.
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When I saw Saving Private Ryan at the theater I don't think there was a dry eye when people left and no one was saying a word or making any kind of noise. On Memorial day We have a local newspaper that will list all of the serviceman that gave their lives for our country from WWI forward from our area. They list age when where and how they died. More papers should do this.
Lafayette Grading Set
God bless America!
They quit making these hoards of heroes.
Sure there are still military heroes today, but not millions of them.
Wow ... Semper Fi @USMarine6
To you ... and and your family.
All gave some ... but some gave all.
The type written letter choked me up a bit. My family has a lot of service as well, but amazingly we all came home.
BTW ... I wasn't a Marine ... USN Aviation ... was part of a joint service F/A-18 Squadron for a few years, and some other things too. Best Man at my wedding was a Marine, and I served with many of them. My family has all been either USN or Army.
“We are only their care-takers,” he posed, “if we take good care of them, then centuries from now they may still be here … ”
Todd - BHNC #242
My dad was on lcp's on Omaha beach. Most of us had o e that served during that time, we better not forget