Elmer Benson “Butch” Goodwin was born on August 23, 1922, in Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio. He was the son of Elmer Bragdon Goodwin and Mattie Benson Goodwin. He was married to Marion Battle Woods Goodwin. He served in the 350th Bomber Squadron, 100th Bomber Group, Heavy, as a Second Lieutenant and Co-Pilot of a B-17 bomber during World War II.

On July 14, 1944, Bastille Day, the United States Army Air Forces carried out Operation Cadillac, one of the largest Allied aerial resupply missions of World War II, delivering urgently needed weapons, ammunition, and supplies to the French Resistance. Hundreds of B-17 Flying Fortress bombers, escorted by fighter aircraft, flew from England to drop thousands of containers over designated Resistance zones, including Moustoulat in Corrèze.

Elmer participated in the mission and flew 21 combat missions as a co-pilot and 13 as a first pilot, with a mission record marked by especially difficult operations, including three missions to Merseburg, one of which was recalled the Hamm mission of November 26, 1944, and multiple sorties into the heavily defended Ruhr region (“Happy Valley”), where intense flak and frequent Luftwaffe opposition were the norm. In addition to his flying duties, he served as Assistant Engineering Officer of the 350th Squadron during his combat tour. After completing his final mission on November 30, 1944, to Merseburg, Germany, he was assigned to Group Engineering and later became the Engineering Officer of the 349th Squadron.

Following World War II, he continued his military career in the United States Air Force, retiring with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He remained closely connected to the 100th Bomb Squadron, serving as its treasurer for more than thirty years. Beyond his military service, he was a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the National Republican Committee, Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, and the Roadrunners RV Club. In 1994, he returned to France with fellow members of the 100th Bomb Group at the invitation of the French Resistance to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Bastille Day operation that supplied Resistance forces near Tulle. He died on January 31, 2008, and is now buried in the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery, Dallas, Dallas County, Texas, USA.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, resistancefrancaise.blogspot.com, Source of information and photo: 100thbg.com