Soft launch: Soldier biographies and research notes vary in completeness. Prefer class-roster, NARA, newspapers, and other cited sources for contested facts — treat Research notes as leads, not settled history. Anyone can correct a page; contact us with questions.
Walter F. Goodman, Jr.
| Walter F. Goodman, Jr. | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | San Francisco, California |
| Nativity | United States |
| Religion | Protestant |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Army |
| Arm / service | Field Artillery |
| ASN | 0519190 |
| Rank | Second Lieutenant |
| Camp Ritchie | Class 9 (21 June – 18 August 1943) |
| Section | 7 |
{{Needs source}}, or explain disagreements on talk. Baseline import notes: About the data.
Walter F. Goodman Jr. was a United States Army Field Artillery officer who trained at Camp Ritchie, Maryland, in Class 9 and served in North Africa and Italy.
Biography
Walter F. Goodman Jr. was born in San Francisco, California. He studied history and languages at Texas A&M University and was commissioned a second lieutenant of Field Artillery on 6 May 1943 after Officer Candidate School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
His first assignment after OCS was a military-intelligence course at Camp Ritchie (Class 9), covering Allied and German force structures and the German political situation. He then served about two and a half years in North Africa and Italy, including civil-affairs schooling at Tizi Ouzou, before returning to the United States.
Goodman later completed Command and General Staff College coursework and remained associated with Army civil-affairs and military-intelligence communities; he was inducted into the Artillery Officer Candidate School Hall of Fame (2020 materials in the packet).
Research notes
- 9/26/1921-?
- birth_place cleaned from corrupted “San Francisco, Calif. In January 1944”. Exact death date not established from packet skim—leave death fields unless already set.
Technical record
| Field | Imported value |
|---|---|
| Class_ASN | 519190 |
| Class_Name | GOODMAN, Walter F. |
| match_method | asn_exact_name_exact |
| row_source | both |
Timeline
- Born in San Francisco, California.
- 6 May 1943 — Commissioned second lieutenant, Field Artillery, Fort Sill OCS.
- 1943 — Military intelligence course at Camp Ritchie (Class 9).
- 1943–1946 — Service in North Africa and Italy (civil affairs / intelligence path).
Sources
- RB Archive Artillery OCS Hall of Fame / related PDF packet materials
- RB Archive, Walter F. Goodman Jr., autobiographical memoir excerpt “The War Years 1943–1946”
- Camp Ritchie Museum, Inc. (The Ritchie History Museum), Classes 1–31 roster data
- Dan Gross research spreadsheets, including original Excel timeline/roster work, combined with other research and records
- NARA World War II Army enlistment records (where a NARA ASN is present)
- 1940 U.S. Census (where a census match is present)
- Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page, post dated 2022-12-23 (1 post)