GODWIN, SOLOMON HUGHEY



Name: Solomon Hughey Godwin
Rank/Branch: W1/US Marine Corps
Unit: SUISVC, Headquarters Battalion, 1st Marine Division
Date of Birth: 24 January 1935
Home City of Record: Hot Springs AR
Date of Loss: 05 February 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 162718N 1073520E (YD764209)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 1
Acft/Venicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

Source: Compiled from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S.
Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published
sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK. 2020

EGRESS reported he had lacerated feet, got gangrene, died 02/24/68 on the
trail to Fu Bai near Hue.
                                         
SYNOPSIS: WO1 Solomon Hughey Godwin was captured in Hue during the Tet
Offensive on February 5, 1968. A U.S. trained Vietnamese intelligence agent who
was held with Godwin escaped three weeks after capture and reported on Godwin's
status.

Godwin was detained in the hills outside of Hue until late July 1968, when he
and one other American POW, Mr. Eugene Weaver, began their journey to North
Vietnam. Weaver had been captured at Hue on January 31.

WO1 Godwin's health was deteriorating rapidly, and he died during the march
north. Mr. Weaver was told to sign a document verifying that WO1 Godwin died.
The place of death was also recorded on this document, although it was
illegible to Mr. Weaver.

Eugene Weaver was one of 591 lucky Americans released in Operation Homecoming
in the spring of 1973. Godwin's name did not appear on any list provided by the
Hanoi government.

In 1987, Gen. John Vessey provided classified information relating to Godwin to
the Vietnamese in the hopes that they would return his remains or be more
forthcoming with information on his fate. Hanoi denies any knowledge WO1 Godwin.

Since the end of the war, nearly 10,000 have been received relating to
Americans missing in Southeast Asia. Many experts believe that there are still
hundreds alive in captivity. Some of the nearly 2500 missing were known to have
been captured, like Godwin. Others were known to be alive and capture imminent.

The Vietnamese periodically "discover" information and remains of Americans in
their country, yet have yet to "discover" the fate of Solomon H. Godwin.

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Garnett Bill Bell/George J. Veith, 10 Apr 1996 --
"... Godwin, from Hot Springs, Arkansas, also captured in Hue, died while
undergoing a lengthy period of interrogation by Public Security Police. Due
to his assignment as an Intelligence Advisor to the Republic of Vietnam
(RVN) National Police Special Branch in Hue, both CWO Godwin and captured
CIA agent Eugene Weaver were held in a highly secret camp far removed from
any other American prisoners...."

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01/2020

https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000BTRsEAO

 

• Conflict
• Service
• Status

• VIETNAM WAR
• UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS
• Unaccounted For

 

Chief Warrant Officer 1 Solomon Hughey Godwin, who joined the U.S. Marine Corps from Arkansas, was a member of Service Company, Headquarters Battalion, 1st Marine Division. On February 5, 1968, he was an adviser to the Special Branch National Police in Hue City, Republic of (South) Vietnam, when the city came under attack by the North Vietnamese Army, as part of the Tet Offensive. CWO1 Godwin was captured during the attack and died of illness while held as a prisoner of war at the Huong Son village in Laos. His remains have not been recovered, and he has not been identified among remains returned to U.S. custody after the war. While carried in the status of missing in action (MIA), the U.S. Marine Corps promoted CWO1 Godwin to the rank of Chief Warrant Officer 3 (CWO3). Today, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Godwin is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Based on all information available, DPAA assessed the individual's case to be in the analytical category of Active Pursuit.

If you are a family member of this serviceman, DPAA can provide you with additional information and analysis of your case. Please contact your casualty office representative.

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CWO3 SOLOMON HUGHEY GODWIN

• Unit SERVCO HQBN 1DIV
• Historical Country of Loss
  Laos
• Current Country of Loss
  LAOS
• Home of Record AR