Local Veteran Is ‘Standing on The Shoulders of Giants'

For as long as he can remember, Matt Goodwin has been fascinated with the military.

“It probably started when I was younger and my brother enlisted in the Marine Corps,” said the Darien resident.

In high school, he decided to follow in his brother’s footsteps.

“We, as Americans, are able to enjoy freedoms that others in the world do not,” Goodwin said. “Those freedoms must be protected. I felt that it was important to be a part of providing that protection and to help others around the world who wanted those freedoms as well.”

Initially Goodwin considered the Marines Corps Reserves and doing Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) while in college to get a commission as a marine officer. But as he began exploring all of his options, he opted to go with the Army.

“They were able to offer me my choice of career field — military police — where the Marines Corps did not,” he said. “That was the tipping point for me.”

Goodwin was 17 and a senior at when he enlisted Feb. 12, 2000, and began performing his weekend reserve duties. Five days after graduation, he left for his eight-week basic training program at Ft. Leonard Wood in Missouri.

That fall, Goodwin began his freshman year at Lewis University, while continuing to do his reserve duty. The next summer he returned to Ft. Leonard Wood to complete his nine-week Military Police Advanced Individual Training

In the spring of his sophomore year, Goodwin signed a letter of intent to join the university’s ROTC program, which led him to a commission as a military police second lieutenant upon graduation from college in August of 2004.

Today, Goodwin, a member of the Darien Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2838, is on his second deployment to Israel. He is expected to return home in February.

He hopes to continue to serve in the Reserves until he retires.

“This country has given my family, my friends and me so many opportunities that giving something back is the only right thing to do,” he said.

Goodwin said it’s important to recognize veterans on Veterans Day, and acknowledges he has big shoes to fill.

“The freedoms I have spoken of are not simply the result of those who are serving today, but of all the veterans, past and present,” he said. “Veterans, and their families, have sacrificed a great deal for our country. They have entered into a timeless and sacred bond to protect the freedoms that we enjoy. I, for one, consider myself to be standing on the shoulders of giants.”