Alfred Goodwin

Alfred Goodwin
Personal details
Born	4 August 1914 Karlsruhe, Germany
Died	28 May 1993
Nativity	Germany
Religion	Jewish
Awards	Bronze Star Medal with oak leaf cluster
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army
ASN	39094012
Rank	Master Sergeant
Rank at Ritchie	Corporal
Camp Ritchie	Class 4 (6 January – 6 March 1943)
Section	5
Enlisted	Presidio of Monterey, California
Unit / division	409th Infantry
Team	IPW 33

Interview Listen to Alfred Goodwin on OJMCHE oral history (audio).

Awards and honors

Bronze Star Medal with oak leaf cluster

Teammates

Team — IPW 33

These are other soldiers listed on the same team roster. People moved between teams; overlapping service dates are not always documented.

Research notes on this page are compiled from the source file and later edits. They may be unverified, incomplete, or incorrect, and should not be treated as established fact. Please correct the article or add sources on the talk page. For class-roster terms, see About the data.

Sources & confidence: Treat Research notes as leads, not settled fact. Prefer NARA, the class roster, newspapers, Find a Grave, or published histories for contested claims. Mark unsourced claims with {{Needs source}}, or explain disagreements on talk. Baseline import notes: About the data.

Alfred Goodwin (4 August 1914 – 28 May 1993) was a Karlsruhe-born Jewish refugee and Ritchie Boy who served as a master sergeant interrogator in Europe and later worked in the Bissinger & Company hide and wool business in Oregon and Utah.

Biography

Alfred Goodwin was born Alfred Gutmann on 4 August 1914 in Karlsruhe, Baden, Germany, the younger son of David and Anna (Bissinger) Gutmann. He immigrated from Hamburg aboard the SS Tacoma on 20 May 1936, landing in San Francisco and settling in Portland, Oregon, where he worked for the family firm Bissinger & Company. His brother Max followed later in 1936; their parents arrived in 1938 and became U.S. citizens with Alfred.

Inducted on 16 March 1942 at the Presidio of Monterey, he completed infantry training at Camp Roberts, California, then graduated from the Fourth Course at Camp Ritchie on 6 March 1943 as an Intelligence NCO (MOS 631; Class 4 / IPW Team 33). Naturalized in Maryland on 8 September 1943, he formally took the name Goodwin. He served in the European Theater from December 1943 to September 1945 with Company F, 409th Infantry, landing at Colleville-sur-Mer and serving through Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge as a POW interrogator. His friend and fellow Ritchie Boy Hans L. Trefousse inscribed a Jefferson reader Goodwin carried ashore. He received the Bronze Star and a Bronze Star with oak leaf cluster (citation dated 6 May 1945 for interrogation service in Germany, 9 February–14 April 1945). He was honorably discharged at Fort Lewis, Washington, on 26 September 1945 as a master sergeant.

Goodwin married Lottie Hirsch, whom he had known in Germany, on 10 January 1947 at Temple Beth Israel in Portland. He returned to Bissinger & Company, managing Intermountain West operations from Salt Lake City and later the Oregon branch. An outdoorsman and collector of works on paper, he was elected the Salt Lake City Art Barn’s first lifetime trustee on 6 May 1963. He died on 28 May 1993.

Technical record

Field	Imported value
Approx Age at Death	79
Nara ASN	39094012
Nara Name	GOODWIN ALFRED
Nara State	95
Nara County	51
Nara POE	9165
Nara DOE	160342
Nara Grade Alpha	PVT
Nara Grade Code	8
Nara Branch Alpha	BI
Nara Branch Code	0
Branch	Branch Immaterial - Warrant Officers, USA
Nara Term or Enlistment	5
Term of enlistment	Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law
Defer. Date	0
Nara Source	0
Nara Nativity	N1
Nara Year of Birth	14
Nara Race	J
Nara Race Description	White not yet a citizen
Nara Education	4
Nara Civilian Occupation	105
Nara Marital Status	6
Nara Height (inches)	64
Nara Weight (lbs)	151
Class_ASN	39094012
Class_Name	Goodwin, Alfred
match_method	asn_exact_name_exact
row_source	both

Timeline

• 4 August 1914 — Born Alfred Gutmann in Karlsruhe, Germany.
• 20 May 1936 — Immigrated via Hamburg (SS Tacoma) to San Francisco; settled in Portland, Oregon (Bissinger & Company).
• 16 March 1942 — Inducted at Presidio of Monterey, California.
• 7 April–6 July 1942 — Infantry training, Camp Roberts, California.
• 6 March 1943 — Graduated Fourth Course, Camp Ritchie (Intelligence NCO).
• 8 September 1943 — Naturalized in Maryland; name changed to Goodwin.
• 14 December 1943–10 September 1945 — European Theater service; Normandy and Battle of the Bulge; Bronze Star and Bronze Star with oak leaf cluster.
• 26 September 1945 — Honorably discharged at Fort Lewis, Washington, as master sergeant (Company F, 409th Infantry).
• 10 January 1947 — Married Lottie Hirsch in Portland, Oregon.
• 6 May 1963 — First lifetime trustee, Salt Lake City Art Barn.
• 28 May 1993 — Died.

Sources

• 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 2022-12-16 (1 post)
• Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education — Alfred Goodwin oral history biography and interview (1986)