Goins, Everette

Date of birth:: February 10th, 1918 (Hatton/Kentucky, United States)
Date of death:: March 24th, 1945 (Mehrum, Germany)
Buried on:: Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial
Plot: F. Row: 13. Grave: 14.
Service number:: 35 686 918
Nationality:: American (1776 - present, Republic)

Biography

Everette Goins was born and raised on a farm near the small town of Hatton, Kentucky, the 5th of 10 children. His father, a farmer, died while Everette was a teenager; this was in the midst of the Great Depression, and his father's death effectively ended Everette's formal education.

Life in rural Kentucky in the first half of the 20th Century was not unlike that in the 19th Century. Farming was labor-intensive, employing horses or mules to till the land. Once boys were old enough to hold a gun, they were expected to supplement the household food supply by hunting (typically small animals like rabbits, squirrels and game birds such as quail). Carl Moore, a first cousin, recalls that Everette was an excellent rifle shot; Everette’s receipt of an Expert Rifleman’s Badge during his Army training confirms his recollection.

Everette was also a fairly accomplished violinist –although, as a rural Kentuckian, his musical repertoire tended more toward Bluegrass and Country rather than Classical. In a letter home to his family from continental Europe, Everette mentioned that he had borrowed a violin and entertained some of his fellow soldiers.

Everette was drafted into the Army in November 1942 and ordered to report to Camp Blanding, Florida, for basic training with the 30th Infantry Division. The 30th or "Old Hickory" Division was a National Guard unit that had been federalized in late1940, when it appeared that the United States might be brought into the wars pending in Europe and Asia. The National Guard infantry regiments of the Old Hickory Division were from Southern States: the 120th Infantry Regiment to which Everette was assigned was from North Carolina. By the time Everette joined the 120th, most of the Division’s original officers had been replaced by regular army personnel, and many of the original North Carolina national guard soldiers – experienced troops by 1942 standards – had been stripped away as cadres for new units. Thus, the 120th Infantry Regiment that Everette found in late 1942 had lost most of its Tar Heel character.; the majority of its soldiers came from states other than North Carolina.

The 30th Division was on maneuvers in Central Tennessee in the fall of 1943 in preparation for the planned invasion of Europe. In a letter home, PFC Goins describes his life of sleeping on the ground in the cold and looks forward to a warm barracks. He would get his wish; the 30th Division was deployed to Camp Atterbury, Indiana for advanced training before being shipped to Europe. At the time he wrote the letter home, Everette was in Company "F" (2nd Battalion) of the 120th Infantry Regiment; this was his Army home for the rest of his career.

In early February 1944, the 30th Division departed for Camp Miles Standish, near Boston; after a brief stay there, the Division boarded ships bound for Great Britain where they remained, in training, until the invasion of Normandy.

The 120th Infantry Regiment landed at Utah Beach on 13 June 1944, taking over a front-line position which was formerly held by the 101st Airborne Division. From there, the 120th and the other components of the Old Hickory Division fought through the hedgerows of France, into Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. A list of the Division’s accomplishments would be overly-long. It can be accurately stated that the 30th Infantry Division was regarded as one of the premier infantry divisions in the European theater, referred to by Axis Sally as, "Roosevelt’s SS troops."

Everette Goins was a PFC when the 120th Infantry Regiment landed in Normandy on 13 June 1944; by the time of his death some 10 months later, he had advanced four ranks – to Technical Sergeant (this Army rank became obsolete in the late 1940's; its modern equivalent is Sergeant First Class). The 120th Infantry Division's regimental history shows T/Sgt Goins as the leader of the 2nd Platoon of Company "F" in late-February 1945; the Platoon Leader position was normally held by a lieutenant, so he was, in effect, serving in a commissioned officer’s capacity.

One reason for Everette Goins' rapid promotion was the horrific losses suffered by combat infantry units after the Normandy landing. At the end of the War, the 30th Infantry Division's casualty rate for its activities from its landing in Normandy in June 1945 to VE Day in May 1945 was reported as 185%!

T/Sgt Goins was was killed in action near Mehrum, Germany, a small town formed by a loop in the Rhine River, south of Wesel, on 24 March 1945. Everette, who had never married, was survived by his mother and siblings. The war in Europe ended some six weeks after his death.

In addition to the DSC and Bronze Star, T/Sgt Goins was awarded the following medals: a Purple Heart medal (with oak leaf cluster) for wounds received in combat; a Distinguished Unit Citation which was awarded to the 2nd Battalion, 120th Infantry Regiment, for actions in Mortain, France on August 7-12, 1944 (this award would have been evidenced by a ribbon worn above his right shirt pocket); the French Croix de Guerre (2 awards to members of the 2nd Battalion, 120th Infantry Regiment); and, the Belgian Fourragere which was awarded to all those soldiers in 120th Infantry Regiment who participated in the campaigns to liberate that country.

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Distinguished Service Cross (DSC)

Period:: Second World War (1939-1945)
Rank:: Technical Sergeant
Unit:: 2nd Platoon, Company "F", 2nd Battalion, 120th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division "Old Hickory", U.S. Army
Awarded on:: October 11th, 1945

For extraordinary heroism in action on 23 February 1945, in Germany. As the platoon led by Sergeant Goins advanced across flat, open terrain heavy enemy machine gun fire was encountered. On of the German guns, immediately to the platoon’s front, had an excellent field of fire and threatened to halt the advance. Sergeant Goins directed his men to a position of defilade and boldly charged the hostile emplacement. Using his carbine, he killed the two-man machine gun crew and two riflemen who were covering the position. The outstanding courage and superb leadership of Sergeant Goins, which enabled his platoon to seize its objective, were in keeping with the finest ideals of the armed forces. Sergeant Goins was killed in a subsequent action. Next of Kin: Mrs. Annie Goins (Mother) Route Number 1, Hatton, Kentucky.