Remembering World War II

Douglas Earl Goodick

Name: Douglas Earl Goodick Rank: Corporal Service Number: 31295993 Service: Company G, 350th Infantry Regiment, 88th Division, US Army Awards: Purple Heart Date of Birth: November 22, 1922 Place of Birth: Lower Sandy Point, Shelburne Co., NS Date of Enlistment: February 8, 1943 Place of Enlistment: Boston, Massachusetts Age at Enlistment: 20 Address at Enlistment: Gloucester, Essex Co., Mass. Height: 5 feet, 6 inches Complexion: Light Hair Color: Blond Eye Color: Blue Date of Death: March 19, 1944 Age: 21 Cemetery: Oak Grove Cemetery, Gloucester, Essex Co., Mass. Douglas Earl Goodick was the son of Manley Cleveland Goodick (1890-1967) Ellen Sarah (Hemeon) Goodick (1890–1980). His mother was born in Sandy Point and his father in Shelburne, NS. Doug had one sister Beulah Goodick (1919-2003), and two brothers Harry Cleveland (1918-2005) and Herbert Winburn (1924- 2004). His brother Herbert served in the US Navy in WWII with the rank of Boatswain’s Mate 1st Class with the 6th Naval Beach Battalion at Omaha Beach on D-Day. His brother Harry served in the US Army as Douglas did in WWII, enlisting June 12, 1942. They both survived the war. Douglas had completed 4 years of high school and was working in the fishing industry before he enlisted. The family lived at 19 Acacia Street in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Doug registered for the US Draft 18 days after his older brother enlisted, on June 30, 1942 in Gloucester, Mass. He then enlisted 6 months later in November 1943. After completion of training in the United States and North Africa, the 88th Division was moved to Italy in January 1944, ready for combat. The 88th Infantry Division was the first organized Reserve Division to go overseas, and also the first to enter combat. Committed to action on the main Fifth Army front north of Naples on March 4, 1944, in what was later known as the Rome-Arno Campaign, the Regiment played an active part in the liberation of Rome. On June 5, 1944, the 350th Infantry was the first Allied unit to enter the Italian capital. The main action along the Fifth Army front in March 1944 was the drive for Cassino. Despite fierce ground attacks by New Zealanders and steady plastering by US Army Air Force bombers, that Nazi bastion held. The Primary mission of the 88th Div. in its bridgehead was a holding and harassing action, and though artillery fire was heavy and constant, ground troops engaged in patrolling and feeling out the enemy. It was not done without cost. By the end of March, the first month, the casualties totaled 99 dead, 252 wounded and 36 missing. Corporal Douglas Earl Goodick was killed in action serving with the 350th Infantry Regiment of 88 Division on March 19, 1944.

Sources: HonorStates 350th Infantry Regiment