Local veteran left it all to serve his country

February 10, 2005

By MEGAN VARNER
Index-Journal staff writer

When he was 19 years old, Greenwood resident and U.S. Army veteran Paul Goldman left his wife and family behind when he was called upon to fight on the European front in World War II. His journey would take him thousands of miles away from home and into the hands of the German army. He would spend 10 months as a POW in southern Germany before American forces liberated his prison, and finally sent Goldman on his way back home.
In 1929, Goldman, now 81, moved to Greenwood from Lincolnton, Ga., when his father, Robert Tom Goldman, bought a farm in the area. For seven years, Goldman worked on his father’s farm, milking cows and performing other daily tasks the farm required.
But when his parents opened the Goldman boarding house at the corner of Merriman and Lee streets, Goldman’s farmhand days were over, and he found a job sweeping floors at a Greenwood mill.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Goldman, just 17 at the time, heard the news that stunned the nation and changed the future for thousands of young American men like himself.
“I was staying at my mother’s boarding house when the news of the Pearl Harbor attacks came over the radio,” he said. “We had all gathered around and listened to it. We were young so it didn’t really sink in at the time, but I can remember it as well as if it were just yesterday.”
Goldman said that after the attacks, he “had a pretty good idea” that he would be called into service. His draft letter didn’t arrive until September of 1943 – almost two years after the United States entered World War II.
In those two years, Goldman’s life had seen many changes. He had gotten married, and by the time Uncle Sam called him into duty, Goldman was about to become a father.
“I hated to leave my wife because she was pregnant, and I tried to talk them into letting me stay out of service until after the baby was born,” he said. “But they wouldn’t let me do it.”
After saying goodbye to his wife and family, Goldman headed to Camp Croft in Spartanburg for a physical and induction into the branch of service of his choice.
“My cousin and friends had gone ahead of me and they took the Navy,” he said. “When they asked me, I told them I wanted the Army because I thought I could run faster than I could swim.”
In October of 1943, after a quick stop at Fort Jackson in Columbia, Goldman reported to Camp Wheeler in Macon, Ga., for 17 weeks of basic training.
Goldman said his years of working on the farm and going hunting with his father had prepared him for the hard labor of basic training.
“I was used to the labor so it didn’t bother me much,” he said. “I was young and in good health. It was rough at times, but I had it just like everybody else. I just went on and did what they told me to.”
While he was at Camp Wheeler, Goldman’s son, Marvin, was born, and Goldman was allowed to return home for a weekend to see his son for the first time.
In early 1944, Goldman reported to Fort Meade in Maryland to receive more infantry training. Just weeks later, he boarded a liberty ship in Newport News, Va., and embarked on a 28-day journey across the Atlantic. The soldiers were headed for Naples, Italy, where they were needed as replacement forces for Allied troops who had already captured the city.
His journey wouldn’t be without danger. Late one afternoon, as Goldman’s ship was entering the Strait of Gibraltar, the narrow inlet serving as the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea, a German airplane dropped a torpedo into the waters surrounding the American convoy.
“My ship had a torpedo net running along parallel to it. At about sundown, the Germans dropped the torpedo from an airplane, and the net caught the torpedo dead center,” he said. “That net was the only thing that kept the torpedo from going off. If it hadn’t caught it, I wouldn’t be here today.”
Goldman said the experience left the soldiers uneasy, but the convoy was able to make it safely to Naples without any further attacks. He said the soldiers stayed in the city for nearly two weeks, before boarding another ship bound for Anzio, Italy, a small town just up the coast from Naples.
When he arrived, Goldman said he was assigned to the 85th Infantry Division, nicknamed “Custer’s Division” after General George A. Custer, as part of the 5th Army.
“The troops had already taken Anzio when I got there as a replacement, and we were there about two weeks before we started advancing toward Rome,” he said. “I was one of the first men to walk down the streets of Rome on June 4, 1944.”
Goldman said the soldiers continued to advance north past Rome, and in August, when his line approached the Arno River in Florence, Italy, Goldman’s tour of duty took a horrific turn when he was taken prisoner by the German army.
“We reached the river late one afternoon, and the company commander sent a patrol unit out to check the river and to find a place for us to cross,” he said, adding that he was one of the 19 men in that patrol unit. “We were surrounded by Germans, and we were cut off from our division - we couldn’t get back.”
Goldman and the men surrendered to the German troops, and they were forced to cross the river with their hands held high above their heads.
“They told us if we took our hands down, they would shoot us. I had a little Testament in my shirt pocket, and I thought that they would shoot me anyway, so I reached down and got my Testament,” he said. “I thought if they were going to shoot me, I was going to die with that in my hands, but they didn’t shoot me.”
Goldman said the men were transported to the German front line, where they were interrogated by German officers.
“They began to ask us all kinds of questions. They wanted to know where I had basic training, and where and when I had shipped out,” he said. “But they told us during training that all we had to give was our name, rank and serial number, so that’s all I told them.”
Goldman said his refusal to answer their questions made the German officers angry, and, as a punishment, they placed him in an old prison for one day and one night.
“You do a lot of praying and thinking in that time,” he said. “You begin to wonder if you’ll live or not, or if you’ll ever get back home.”
Goldman was returned to his fellow soldiers, and the men boarded a truck headed north into Bavaria. While en route, the men were spotted by American fighter planes, which nearly fired on the German truck.
“Some of the (American) men yanked their shirts off and started waving them off the back of the truck,” Goldman said. “They recognized us and they didn’t shoot.”
But the American planes couldn’t rescue Goldman and the men, and they were soon loaded onto railroad cattle cars, which served as a primitive – and barbaric – prison for the men for two days while en route to a city near Munich, Germany.
“We were allowed one piece of bread and one piece of bologna a day for those two days,” he said. “All I can say is that it was awful.”
Goldman was taken to Stalag VII A, a POW camp in southern Germany, which housed thousands of prisoners from different countries. After several weeks at the camp, Goldman, along with 89 other POWs, was assigned to work on a German farm nearly 100 miles away from the prison.
“During the winter it got so cold that we couldn’t do anything on the farm, so they carried us out to cut logs for a sawmill,” he said. “There was a prison camp not far from the farm where they locked us up at night.”
By mid-April of 1945, American forces had advanced into Germany, nearing Stalag VII A, and began an effort to liberate the prison. At the farm, Goldman said the German officers decided to move the POWs back to the prison camp.
“The Germans made us walk for five days to try to get back to Stalag,” he said. “We reached the prison camp on Saturday afternoon, and the Americans liberated us on Sunday morning.”
In the morning hours of April 29, 1945, American forces swept through Stalag VII A, and after nearly 10 months as a POW, Goldman was finally free.
After being examined, cleaned and issued new clothing, Goldman reported to Reims, France, where he stayed for several weeks. He returned to the United States in June of 1945.
Although the war in Europe was over, the war in the Pacific had yet to be won. While Goldman was on a recuperation assignment in Miami Beach, Fla., he was ordered to report to Fort Lewis in Seattle, Wash., to await deployment to the Pacific.
But the war in Japan would end before Goldman reached Washington state, and his final days in service were spent on American soil.
He was discharged in October of 1945, and he made it home to Greenwood one day before his son’s second birthday.
Goldman said his two years in service taught him a lot about himself and what it meant to be an American.
“The war taught me how to take care of myself and it taught me to be thankful for everything that I have,” he said. “I’m proud of my experience, and I’m proud to be an American.”

LU men pull upset

February 10, 2005

By BRIAN HOWARD
Assistant sports editor

Basketball fans stormed the court Wednesday night at Finis Horne Arena.
The Lander University men’s basketball team got its biggest win in years as the Bearcats routed USC Upstate, 79-65, giving coach Bruce Evans his first victory over a nationally-ranked opponent.
The Spartans entered Wednesday’s game ranked No. 20 in Division II and No. 3 in the South Atlantic Region, but the Bearcats weren’t intimidated, leading the entire game except when the game was tied at 2.
“Our schedule has been really generous to us,” Evans said. “We had a very difficult game at Kennesaw State (Saturday), and I thought our guys played really well. But to be able to come back home and get a win, and the way we won was very good our student-athletes.
“It was also very good for our community, our students, faculty and staff.”
The Bearcats led 40-32 with 2 minutes, 33 seconds remaining in the first half, but finished on a 10-2 run, including back-to-back 3-pointers by Jason Davis and Jahi Rawlings in the final minute.
Lander (14-8 overall, 7-3 PBC) moved within a game of Upstate in the North Division standings with the win. The Bearcats shot 58.1 percent, their highest output in one half this season, in the first half and were able to knock down 11 3-pointers.
The Bearcats finished with 14 3-pointers, two shy of this season’s mark of 16 against UNC Pembroke.
The Spartans (15-6, 7-3) cut the double-digit lead to six, 54-48 after a Charleston Long two-handed dunk.
But the Bearcats would push the lead back to double digits for the next three minutes, including taking a 16-point advantage after a pair of free throws by Rawlings, after he was fouled hard, wi
th 12:36 left. “It was a real physical game,” Rawlings said. “We had to tough it out and pull together as a team.
The coach said to us at halftime to keep going at them, don’t back down. They are a good team and they are going to make their runs.”
But it wasn’t the Spartans that made the run when it counted. Lander used an 8-2 run to put the game away during a three-minute stretch late in the second half.
Leading 67-55, Emanuel Hodrea scored on a layup with 9:28 remaining to start the run and Jackson, after scoring on a fastbreak layup, hit a jumper with 6:30 left, giving the Bearcats a 77-55 lead.
Jackson’s field goal would be the final for Lander, as the Bearcats went the final 6:30 without a basket from the field. That gave Upstate a chance to get back into the game, but couldn’t get any closer than 12 points.
Jackson led all scorers with 22 points, including 3-pointers.
“That was a nationally ranked team we beat,” Jackson said. “That was big. When I looked at them, I just thought they had two players that we really needed to guard - Jay Free and Charleston Long.
C.J. Paul was out and he was the one that runs the offense. Before the game, I knew if we do what we need to do, then we will win the game.”
Paul, who is the brother of Chris Paul, who plays at Wake Forest, missed the game because of a right knee injury.
Rawlings had 17 points, including four 3-pointers. Richard Gilliam scored 10 points as the Bearcats play Saturday at USC Aiken.
Long led Upstate, which has dropped two straight in the PBC, with 17 points and eight rebounds. Luke Payne added 10.

Opinion

Observations ... and other reflections

February 10, 2005

President Bush’s budget proposes to cut or eliminate about 150 federal programs. That, as expected, brought out the “Chicken Little” critics. But is the sky really falling?
Hardly! It happens any time cuts are suggested ….. in anything. One thing’s for sure, though. Once a federal social or subsidy program is started, it’s almost impossible to ever stop it, like now. Every lawmaker ever elected, it seems, always pays lip service to cutting expenses and balancing budgets. Very often, though, they are talking about some other lawmaker’s favorite program, not their own.
The submission of the budget to Congress last week kicked off what likely will be months of debate. Actually, it began more than a debate. It started a political brouhaha that reinforces the status quo.
Faces change, it seems, but the boondoggles keep on and on and on.

* * * * *

The people in this state don’t know the number of South Carolinians on Social Security. They do know, though, they’ve been told for years the Social Security System is in danger of running out of money. That’s been heard from Republicans and Democrats alike over the years.
So, when President Bush decides to propose reform of the Social Security system, for some opponents it’s like it’s a problem that’s never been mentioned before.
Right or wrong, Bush has addressed the subject. No one else has shown any initiative on the matter. Looking at the system now should show whether there really is a problem or not.
Is there or isn’t there? Maybe that’s what some opponents don’t want the American people to know.

* * * * *

When Alberto Gonzales was approved by the U. S. Senate as the first Hispanic to become attorney general, the vote was 60-36. All “no” votes were from Democrats and Democratic-leaning Independent Jim Jeffords of Vermont.
When the Senate voted on Condoleezza Rice as the first black woman to be secretary of state, 12 Democrats and Jeffords voted against her.
Politics? Even a blind hog can find that acorn.

Editorial expression in this feature represents our own

Obituaries

John Calvin Burns

DUE WEST — John Calvin Burns, 48, of 21 Beulah St., died Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2005 at Self Regional Medical Center in Greenwood.
The family is at the home.
Services will be announced by Holloway’s Funeral Home, Belton.

Ralph ‘Tip’ Carter

Ralph “Tip” Carter, of 857 Meadow St., died Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2005 at Self Regional Medical Center.
Born in Greenwood, he was a son of the late James Willie McBride and Bernice Carter. He was a member of John’s Creek Baptist Church, Abbeville.
Survivors include his wife, Cynthia Williams Carter of Greenwood; two daughters, Tina Carter of Columbia and Lisa Williams of Greenwood; two sisters, Mary Gilmore of the home and Janice Mayo of Columbia; six brothers, Kenneth Carter, Leonard Towns and Johnny McBride, all of Greenwood, Bernard Towns of Ware Shoals, Robert Earl Carter of Laurel, Miss., and Willie James McBride Jr. of Honea Path; two nephews reared in the home, Reginald Carter of Columbia and Cotize Carter of Greenwood; and three grandchildren.
The family is at the home.
Services will be announced by Parks Funeral Home.

Daisy Dorn

Memorial services for Daisy Dorn, of 328 Grove St., Apt. 4-H, are at noon Friday at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses, New Market Street, conducted by Brother Demetrius Johnson and Brother Gary Luckey.
Robinson & Son Mortuary Inc. is in charge.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at robson@emeraldis.com

Gwen Hancock

GREENWOOD – Gwendylon Spires “Gwen” Hancock, 72, resident of 168 Orchard Park Drive, wife of SMS Gene Porter Hancock, died February 8, 2005 at Self Regional Medical Center.
Born in Clinton, SC, June 19, 1932, she was a daughter of the late Ralph M. and Bertha Pruitt Spires. She was a graduate of Ninety Six High School and the York County Hospital School of Nursing. Mrs. Hancock retired from the office of Dr, Casper E. Wiggins.
A member of Woodfields Baptist Church and the Canasta Club, she was an avid Gamecock Fan and was a member of the Gamecock Club. She was a former member of the Greenwood Woman’s Club.
Surviving in addition to her husband of the home are a daughter, Tara and husband Tommy Stoddard of Greenwood and a son, Rhett and wife Allyson Hancock of Greenville, A brother, Ansel and wife Elizabeth “Lib” Spires of Greenwood. Grandchildren, Katie Stoddard, Thomas Stoddard, Kristin Hancock and Matthew Hancock. A lifelong friend, Marcene D. Little of Rock Hill.
Funeral services will be conducted at 2:00 PM Friday at Woodfields Baptist Church with Rev. Roger Kinion, Dr. Robert Miller and Dr. Tony Hopkins officiating.
Burial will be in Oakbrook Memorial Park.
Pallbearers will be Jeff Sizemore, Ron Moore, Don Moore, Jimmy Shubert, Jimmy Burton, John McGee and Kirk Boland.
Honorary escort will be Deacons of Woodfields Baptist Church, member of the Greenwood County Gamecock Club, Respiratory Therapist and 4th Floor West nurses at Self Regional Medical Center along with Dr. Casper Wiggins, Dr, Roland McKinney, Dr. Russell Hall, Dr. Ray Lewis, Dr. Bobby McBride, Jane McBride, Ray Gambrell, Curt Harmon, Gene Latham, Annette Latham, Frank Boland, Grace Boland, Joe Matthews, Steve Reeves, Ken Barnette, Helen Stathakis, Virginia Ek, Ester Free, Rita Pickens, Ruby Benjamin, Virginia Anagnost, Paula Bourne, Frances Stockman, Al GambrelI, Leigh Gambrell and Neal Willard.
The body is at Blyth Funeral Home and will be placed in the church at 1:00 PM Friday.
The family is at the home of Tara and Tommy Stoddard, 307 Forest Lane, and will receive friends at Blyth Funeral Home from 6:00 to 8:00 Thursday evening.
In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to Hospice Care of the Piedmont, 408 W. Alexander Ave, Greenwood, SC 29646, Bowers-Rogers Home, PO Box 1252, Greenwood, SC 29648, Woodfields Baptist Church, 1708 Marshall Road, Greenwood, SC 29646 or to the Gwen Hancock Memorial Scholarship for Respiratory Care, PO Box 1467, Greenwood, SC 29648.
For additional information please visit www.blythfuneralhome.com
Blyth Funeral Home is assisting the Hancock Family.
PAID OBITUARY

L.T. Kirk

ABBEVILLE – L.T. Kirk, 90, of Hwy. 72 Abbeville, husband of Claire Brooks Kirk, died Tuesday, February 8, 2005 at his residence. He was born in Bremen, GA to the late J.E. and Maude Barber Kirk. Mr. Kirk was an active member of the Congregational Holiness Church where he served as a Deacon and Sunday School Teacher. After many years he retired from the Seaboard Coastline Railroad.
Surviving Mr. Kirk is his wife of the home, a son, Kenneth Kirk and his wife Barbara of Greenwood; two daughters, Carolyn Seagle and her husband Scott of Abbeville, and Betty Hughes and her husband Joe of Abbeville; a brother, Farlan Kirk of Atlanta, GA; six grandchildren and fourteen great-grandchildren.
The family will receive friends 6:00PM to 8:00PM Thursday, February 10, 2005 at Harris Funeral Home. Funeral services will be 2:00PM Friday, February 11, 2005 at the Congregational Holiness Church conducted by the Rev. Tye Sorrow. Burial will follow in Forest Lawn Memory Gardens.
Pallbearers will be the grandsons, John Dansby, Ken Kirk, Steven Hughes, Joey Hughes and great-grandsons, Kasey Johnson and Jay Hughes.
The family is at the home. Online condolences may be sent to the Kirk family by visting www.harrisfuneral.com
HARRISFUNERALHOME, of Abbeville is assisting the Kirk family.
PAID OBITUARY

David Lindler

David Lee Lindler, 72, of 440 Dogwood Drive, husband of Nancy Huyler Lindler, died Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2005 at Self Regional Medical Center.
Born in Spartanburg County, he was a son of the late Clarence O’Neal and Manie Onna Sperry Lindler. He was an Air Force veteran of the Korean conflict, serving as a technical instructor. Attending Lander College and Baylor University, he graduated from Greenwood College of Commerce. He was a retired general partner of Kinard’s Automotive and a member of North Side Baptist Church.
Survivors include his wife of the home; a son, David Neal Lindler of Greenwood; two daughters, Dianne L. Fields and Mrs. Wendell (Kathy) Kinard, both of Greenwood; seven grandchildren; and a great-grandchild.
Graveside services are 4 p.m. Friday at Greenwood Memorial Gardens, conducted by the Revs. Dr. Jeff Lethco and Ryan Eklund.
Pallbearers are Trevor Lindler, Michael Walden, Marion Sorrow, John Timmerman, Jimmy Hughes, Buddy Wells and Sam Robbs.
Visitation is 2:30-3:30 Friday at Blyth Funeral Home.
The family is at the home.
Memorials may be made to Hospice Care of the Piedmont, 408 W. Alexander Ave., Greenwood, SC 29646, or the SC Troopers Association, 4961 Broad River Road, Columbia, SC 29210.
Blyth Funeral Home is in charge.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.blythfuneralhome.com

Eula Mae Morton

DONALDS — Eula Mae Morton, 74, of 140 Lower Shady Grove Road, wife of James Douglas Morton Sr., died Monday, Feb. 7, 2005 at her home.
Born in Abbeville County, she was a daughter of the late Edgar and Mary Butler Anderson. She was a member of Friendship Baptist Church, Honea Path, where she was the first lady trustee and a missionary club and senior choir member. A retired worker from Riegel Textiles, she was a member of the Order of the Eastern Star at Dunn Creek.
Survivors include her husband; four daughters, Judy C. Sander and Della Morton of Donalds, Shona Morton of Ware Shoals and Genaice Stewart of the home; a son, James D. Morton Jr. of Ware Shoals; a sister, Earlee Jackson of New York; two brothers, A.D. Anderson of Donalds and Perry Anderson of New York City; six grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
Services are 1 p.m. Friday at Friendship Baptist Church, Honea Path, conducted by the Revs. Dr. A.D. Anderson Jr. and Harold Johnson. The body will be placed in the church at 12. Burial is in Oakbrook Memorial Park, Greenwood.
No wake is planned.
The family is at the home.
Unity Mortuary, Anderson, is in charge.

Kimberly T. Nicholson

WATERLOO — Kimberly “Kim” Tracy Davis Nicholson, 2202 Dillard Road, died Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2005.
Services will be announced by Harley Funeral Home.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.harleyfuneralhome.com

Panijah Armani Tolbert

Graveside services for Panijah Armani Tolbert, of 528 Hall St., are 2:30 p.m. Friday at Second Damascus Baptist Church Cemetery, Callison, conducted by Bishop Emanuel Spearman.
The family is at the home.
Robinson & Son Mortuary Inc. is in charge. Online condolences may be sent to the family at robson@emeraldis.com