The City of Grovetown honored a hometown hero during the city council’s April meeting.
Councilmember Richard Bowman, during the council’s February meeting, introduced the idea that the city formally recognizes a veteran each month, particularly those who served in the Vietnam and Korean Wars. Bowman further discussed the proposition in last month’s meeting.
The council inaugurated those recognitions during Monday evening’s meeting, acknowledging the late Cpl. Joseph Daniel “Danny” Goodale Jr.
“We are a military town, and it is entirely appropriate to acknowledge all of our veterans,” said Bowman, Monday night. “Because they were the guys and ladies that came home and nobody said, ‘thank you for your service.’ They came home to hostilities and questions.”
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Cpl. Goodale, a Grovetown native, was killed in action at age 19, two weeks after arriving in Vietnam, on March 28, 1969. He was survived by his parents, Joseph Goodale Sr. and Madge Strickland Goodale, and his brother, Charles Goodale, who have all since died.
“I don’t think anybody’s more deserving of this award, to be the very first officially recognized by our city,” said City Administrator Elaine Matthews, who remembered Goodale fondly as a friend and fellow student. “He was known as our local hero… a good man, a loving, kind individual.”
Goodale was posthumously awarded a Purple Heart, a National Defense Service Medal, a Vietnam Service Medal and a Vietnam Campaign Medal. The city’s Goodale Park is named in his honor, and his uniform is preserved in the Grovetown Museum. A plaque made in his honor was presented to attending family.
Earlier that evening, Mayor Gary Jones established two ad hoc committees, one devoted to creating a volunteer coordinator position, for residents interested in helping organize city events; the other to reviewing medical insurance proposals.
Jones also lauded officers and firefighters of Grovetown Public Safety for their service during the events on April 1 on Newmantown Road.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
