CLEVE EARL GOODWIN
Branch: U. S. Army
Rank: TEC 4
Status: Killed in action
Date of Service: WWII
Home Town: Falk Township
1. Ordnance Corps Insignia 2. Brittany American Cemetery
Cleve Earl Goodwin was born in Pine Bend, Minnesota on April 26, 1919 to parents George Lawrence Belcourt and Florence Emma Goodwin. Cleve grew up living with his grandparents Nelson and Melinda Goodwin on their farm in Falk Township on the White Earth Reservation. He attended school through the 5th grade, then went to work as a laborer cutting wood and helping out on the farm.
Cleve registered for the draft on February 5, 1941, noting that he was employed by the National Youth Administration in Bagley. He stated that he was Native American with brown eyes and black hair.
Cleve joined the Army and became part of the 895th Ordnance Heavy Automotive Maintenance Company. In 1942 the responsibility for motor transport was shifted from the Quartermaster Branch to the Ordnance Department. The challenge of maintaining such a wide variety of vehicles was one of the Army’s largest hurdles in WWII.
Tech 4 Goodwin was in France on October 8, 1944 when he was killed. His body was buried at Plot B, Row 4, Grave 7, Brittany American Cemetery in St. James, France. He was 25 years old.
