SAN ANGELO, Texas – Sailors from commands in Texas came together to honor Cmdr. Charles Goodwin at the Texas State Veterans Cemetery at Abilene, Oct. 12.
The Sailors were from the Center for Information Warfare Training (CIWT) Det. Goodfellow, Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training Unit Lemoore Learning Site Goodfellow, Training Air Wing 4, Corpus Christi, and Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base.
More than 50 years after he and his jet disappeared during a Vietnam War combat photo mission, Goodwin’s remains were escorted by Navy Sailors and the Patriot Guard Riders from Dallas to Abilene, Texas, where he was interred by his family.
The Navy also honored Goodwin with a 21-gun salute, a two-plane flyover, the bugle call of “Taps" and the presentation of the U.S. flag that draped his casket to family.
Goodwin was a native of Haskell, Texas and joined the Navy in 1961. He was 25 years old when he reported being in thunderstorms, and this was his last radio transmission. It was felt that there was a very good chance that Goodwin survived, and he was declared Missing in Action. In 1977, he was presumed dead.
According to his Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency personnel profile, Goodwin was a member of Light Photographic Squadron 63, embarked aboard the USS Coral Sea (CVA 43). On Sept. 8, 1965, he piloted a single-seat RF-8A Crusader on a photo-reconnaissance mission over Quang Binh Province, North Vietnam. There were severe thunderstorms on Goodwin's route to the target area, and his plane went down during the mission. Search efforts at the time were unable to locate him or his crash site. However, in Dec. 2016, a Joint Forensic Review team received human remains that had been in the possession of a Vietnamese local. Through dental and anthropological analysis, the remains were matched to Goodwin. He was officially accounted for on May 18, 2017.
“Not only is it a privilege when our detachment is able to participate in honoring those that go before us, but it is also a powerful reminder of how rich our Navy’s legacy is,” said CIWT Det. Goodfellow Officer in Charge Lt. Cmdr. Austin Maxwell.
The Center for Information Warfare Training (CIWT) delivers trained information warfare professionals to the Navy and joint services, enabling optimal performance of information warfare across the full spectrum of military operations.
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