Walter F. Goodman, Jr.

Walter F. Goodman, Jr.
Personal details
Born	San Francisco, Calif.
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

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Walter F. Jr. Goodman (ASN 0519190) was a Ritchie Boy (from United States; Protestant) who trained at Camp Ritchie in class 9.

Biography

Walter Goodman was a Ritchie Boy. Goodman was born in San Francisco, Calif. He was commissioned as an Army Field Artillery officer in May 1943 after attending Texas A&M University. His initial active duty assignments were at Fort Sill, Oklahoma and Camp Ritchie, Maryland. In September 1943 he went by ocean convoy to Algeria. His initial assignment was as a student at a joint British and U. Civil Affairs school at Tizi Ouzou, Algeria for Soldiers who were destined for support of combat operations and the military government of Italy. In January 1944, Goodman was assigned as a Civil Affairs officer in the British 8th Army, which oversaw units moving north up the Adriatic side of Italy. In this assignment, Goodman was often one of the first Soldiers to enter a town, where he would assess and report on the status of each community, and take actions to establish Allied control of those communities. Goodman served in different British and Canadian divisions as the fighting moved up the east side of Italy. He was temporarily on the west side of Italy when British units reinforced U.S. operations at Monte Casino. At the end of fighting in Italy, Goodman was the Civil Affairs officer responsible for a number of towns near Milan. Goodman was then selected to support the joint British and U. military government at Venezia Giulia (Trieste). At the end of the war, this region was contested between Italy and Yugoslavia; the Allies jointly governed there until issues could be resolved. On returning to Texas, Goodman joined the Army Reserve Texas-Oklahoma 90th Division, where he served for a number of years in Field Artillery units. In 1964 he joined the 362nd Civil Affairs Area B Headquarters (now Brigade) in Dallas, and served as commander of the unit during the late 1960s. Goodman’s military education includes the Field Artillery Officer Basic Course, and the Army Command and General Staff College. During his college years he attended school in Mexico where he became a fluent Spanish speaker. His military awards include the Legion of Merit, European Campaign Medal with three campaign stars, Army of Occupation Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal. Goodman holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and languages from Texas A&M University. In his civilian career, he managed a family-owned business in Dallas. He also served as president of the Civil Affairs Association.

Research notes

• 9/26/1921-?

Technical record

Field	Imported value
Class_ASN	519190
Class_Name	GOODMAN, Walter F.
match_method	asn_exact_name_exact
row_source	both

Sources

• Camp Ritchie class roster (classes 1–31), merged research file
• 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)