RIP SSgt Goodwin
Posted on 09/24/2004 1:53:41 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar
A former Fort Wainwright Army Post soldier whose son and ex-wife live in Fairbanks was killed in Afghanistan on Monday.
Staff Sgt. Robert "Stacey" Goodwin, 35, was one of two soldiers killed in an attack in a southeastern Afghan province by mortar fire when militants attacked a security patrol, according to an Associated Press report.
His son, 11-year-old Matt Goodwin, knew right away when he saw military members at the door of his Fairbanks home Monday that they were there to tell him his father had been killed, said Christa Bartlett, Matt's mother and Goodwin's former wife.
"Matthew is his next of kin. He's his only child," Bartlett said. "His dad had told him, 'You won't hear about anything on the news if it happens. They'll tell you first.'"
Goodwin and the other soldier killed, Staff Sgt. Tony B. Olaes, 30, of Walhalla, S.C., were both assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group at Fort Bragg, S.C. Two other Americans and six Afghan government troops were wounded in Paktika province battle, the AP reported.
As of Monday, 137 U.S. military personnel have been killed during Operation Enduring Freedom since it was launched in Afghanistan shortly after the Sept., 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, according to the Department of Defense.
Goodwin was an airborne combat medic with the 82nd Airborne Division, a job he earned by signing up for a 10-year re-enlistment, said Larry Bartlett, Matt Goodwin's stepfather. Larry Bartlett was a friend and hunting partner of Stacey Goodwin when the two worked at Bassett Army Community Hospital at Fort Wainwright.
Goodwin spent four years at Fort Wainwright until he transferred to become a master jumper and part of the advanced elite level of Special Forces with the 82nd in 1998, Larry Bartlett said.
Goodwin was killed during his second deployment to Afghanistan. His first stint lasted eight months and he had been there the second time since March.
"He was patriotic to the heart. He was there because he liked the combat, he liked the action," Larry Bartlett said. "His goals were to pay back the Army the 10 years he owed them."
Goodwin started his career in the Army in 1988 and had approximately 4 1/2 years until his obligation was up. He originally was a combat infantry medic but the Army sent him to school to become a nurse. He was a nurse while at Fort Wainwright and worked at Bassett's labor and delivery department for a time.
Goodwin and Christa Bartlett had known each other since attending elementary school together in Albany, Ga., where the two are originally from. They amicably split while in Alaska and both have since remarried. Goodwin's wife, Jennifer, lives in North Carolina.
Christa Bartlett called her ex-husband a wonderful dad. She said he called his son weekly and sent frequent e-mails with photos of where he was and what he was doing even while he was deployed to places such as Afghanistan and Africa.
Mostly because of his military deployments, Matt Goodwin only got to see his dad about once a year. But he did get to spend last Christmas with him at Fort Bragg. He last spoke to his father on the phone Saturday.
"He absolutely loved what he did in the Army. That was his passion and he loved his son, Matthew," Christa Bartlett said. "Those were the two things that he cared about most in the world."
The family left Thursday night to fly to Georgia where Goodwin is being buried beside his mother, who died from cancer when he was 13.
Christa Bartlett said her son, a sixth-grader at Pearl Creek Elementary, was handling his father's death well, considering the loss.
"He has good days and bad days because he just found out, obviously, Monday," she said. "My heart breaks for him. He's more concerned about me. He's just a compassionate child."
Goodwin is survived by his father and grandparents in Georgia, who the Bartletts said never wanted Goodwin to join the Army in the first place.
"They were, every day, just scared to death," Christa Bartlett said. "His grandmother is very religious. Every day they just prayed for him.
"I'm just ready for us to be down there because they need to see Matt."
Reporter Beth Ipsen can be reached at bipsen@newsminer.com or 459-7545.
I'm curious....have they published a list of soldier's deaths where no one back home cared?????
RIP SSgt Goodwin
The reporter has absolutely no knowledge of the military. There is no "elite level of Special Forces with the 82nd". He might have transferred to the 82nd and got his Master rating, but he was a member of the 3rd Special Forces Group.
RIP, honored son of patriots.
May he rest in a hero's peace. Godspeed and may his family find comfort.
May SSgt Goodwin rest in God's peace. Prayers and condolences to his son, family, and friends.
RIP
Prayers for the family.
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