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T/Sgt. Everette Goins
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Grave photograph provided by Everette Goins was born and raised on a farm near the small town of Hatton, Kentucky, the 5th of 10 children. His father, a farmer, died while Everette was a teenager; this was in the midst of the Great Depression, and his father's death effectively ended Everette's formal education. Life in rural Kentucky in the first half of the 20th Century was not unlike that in the 19th Century. Farming was labor-intensive, employing horses or mules to till the land. Once boys were old enough to hold a gun, they were expected to supplement the household food supply by hunting (typically small animals like rabbits, squirrels and game birds such as quail). Carl Moore, a first cousin, recalls that Everette was an excellent rifle shot; Everette’s receipt of an Expert Rifleman’s Badge during his Army training confirms this recollection. Everette was also a fairly accomplished violinist; although, as a rural Kentuckian, his musical repertoire tended more toward Bluegrass and Country rather than Classical. In a letter home to his family from continental Europe (now lost), Everette mentioned that he had borrowed a violin and entertained some of his fellow soldiers. Everette was drafted into the Army in November 1942 and ordered to report to Camp Blanding, Florida, for basic training with the 30th Infantry Division. The 30th or “Old Hickory” Division was a National Guard unit that had been federalized in late1940, when it appeared that the United States might be brought into the wars pending in Europe and Asia.
The 30th Division was on maneuvers in Central Tennessee in the fall of 1943 in preparation for the planned invasion of Europe. In a letter home, PFC Goins describes his life of sleeping on the ground in the cold and looks forward to a warm barracks. He would get his wish; the 30th Division was deployed to Camp Atterbury, Indiana for advanced training before being shipped to Europe. At the time he wrote the letter home, Everette was in Company “F” (2nd Battalion) of the 120th Infantry Regiment; this was his Army home for the rest of his career. In early February 1944, the 30th Division departed for Camp Miles Standish, near Boston; after a brief stay there, the Division boarded ships bound for Great Britain where they remained, in training, until the invasion of Normandy. The 120th Infantry Regiment landed at Utah Beach on 13 June 1944, taking over the front-line position formerly held by the 101st Airborne Division. From there, the 120th and the other components of the Old Hickory Division fought through the hedgerows of France, into Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. A list of the Division’s accomplishments would be overly-long. It can be accurately stated that the 30th Infantry Division was regarded as one of the premier infantry divisions in the European theater, referred to by Axis Sally as, “Roosevelt’s SS troops.”
Photograph taken from an LST on Utah Beach - June 13, 1944 Everette Goins was a Pfc. when the 120th Infantry Regiment landed in Normandy on 13 June 1944; by the time of his death some 10 months later, he had advanced four ranks – to Technical Sergeant (this Army rank became obsolete in the late 1940's; its modern equivalent is Sergeant First Class). The 120th Infantry Division's regimental history shows T/Sgt Goins as the leader of the 2nd Platoon of Company "F" in late-February 1945; the Platoon Leader position was normally held by a lieutenant, so he was, in effect, serving in a commissioned officer’s capacity. One reason for Everette Goins' rapid promotion was the horrific losses suffered by combat infantry units after the Normandy landing. At the end of the War, the 30th Infantry Division's casualty rate for its activities from its landing in Normandy in June 1945 to VE Day in May 1945 was reported as 185%! T/Sgt Goins was was killed in action near Mehrum, Germany, a small town formed by a loop in the Rhine River, south of Wesel, on 24 March 1945. Everette, who never married, was survived by his mother and siblings. The war in Europe ended some six weeks later. Among his decorations, he was phostumously awarded the Army's second highest combat award - the Distinguishes Service Cross. The order conferring this award reads as follows:
In addition to the Distinguished Service Cross and Bronze Star, T/Sgt Goins was awarded the following medals: a Purple Heart medal (with oak leaf cluster) for wounds received in combat; a Distinguished Unit Citation, awarded to the 2nd Battalion, 120th Infantry Regiment, for actions in Mortain, France on August 7-12, 1944 (this award would have been evidenced by a ribbon worn above his right shirt pocket); the French Croix de Guerre (2 awards to members of the 2nd Battalion, 120th Infantry Regiment); and, the Belgian Fourragere which was awarded to all those soldiers in 120th Infantry Regiment who participated in the campaigns to liberate that country. It should be noted that the author of this story, Carl E. Moore, Jr., states that his father, Professor Emeritus Carl E. Moore, Sr., (Everette's first cousin) bumped into Everette on a train when he was returning to his unit after his pre-deployment leave and believes that he was the last person in the family to see Everette alive. Carl E. Moore, Sr. was the driving force behind his son's research into Everette's background and history and does not want Everette to be forgotten.
He is lovingly remembered by His indelible sacrifice is also proudly honored by A very special thanks to
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©2008 In Proud Remembrance/Kevin D. Klump
All Rights Reserved
Updated:
May 25, 2008
