Publication:Chattanooga Times Free Press
Date:Tuesday, December 28, 2004
Section:Front Page; Page:1

By Edward Lee Pitts Military Affairs and Dorie Turner Staff Writer

Spc. Michael Godwin of the 278 th Regimental Combat Team had to go about 7,000 miles to find a little piece of home.

Spc. Godwin, of Chattanooga, reunited with his father and brother during the 278 th’s recent two weeks in Kuwait. His father, Jim, and his twin brother, Malcolm, both work as civilian contractors at Camp Arijan, Kuwait, for the Huntsville, Ala.,-based Eagle Support Services Corp. inspecting equipment for units returning from Iraq.

Spc. Godwin, 20, a radio and telephone operator, said his father and brother played a crucial role in the 278 th’s crusade to find enough metal to weld onto their vehicles before the regiment’s convoy into Iraq.

"They were like our liaisons," he said. "They talked to the right people for us and hooked us up. We wouldn’t have known who to contact."

They provided the 278th soldiers at Camp Buehring, Kuwait, with about eight truckloads of used steel, ballistic windshields and Kevlar blankets, Spc. Godwin said. The 278 th soldiers used the materials to apply what they called "hillbilly armor" to vehicles heading into Iraq.

Mr. Godwin, 60, who retired from the 278th during the summer, said he lost count of how many units his company has helped. The work is seven days a week, 16 hours a day, he said.

Spc. Godwin said his family knew what the 278 th would need after seeing the conditions of other vehicles leaving and entering Iraq.

"They saw vehicles coming in that were hillbilly armored, and they knew what would help," Spc. Godwin said. "They kind of scouted out stuff for us in advance so we wouldn’t waste any time. Every time we went there, they took us exactly where what we needed was."

Mr. Godwin, a member of the 278th for 24 years, said while he will help any unit that comes through Camp Arijan, he didn’t think twice about helping the Tennessee Army National Guardsmen.

"I’ve been in the same barracks with those guys," he said. "I have an obligation to the 278th because that’s my family."

He said the military has "increased tremendously" the production of armor since Dec. 8, when a 278 th soldier questioned U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld about their unprotected vehicles. The soldier posed the question after discussing it with a Chattanooga Times Free Press reporter.

"Everybody’s hanging armor," Mr. Godwin said. "It’s terrific they’re doing it now. But they should have done it a year ago or two years ago."

Spc. Godwin said his father did not secure the extra armor just for his son.

"Dad is going to help out his old unit," he said. "He will do anything to help the military."

While many of Spc. Godwin’s fellow 278th soldiers spent this past summer and fall dreading the deployment that has separated them from their families, he said he looked forward to seeing where his dad and brother live and work.

"I’m proud of them," he said. "We are all doing what we have to do as a family to serve our country. We just took different routes."

Mr. Godwin said he has been in Kuwait about a year, and Malcolm arrived about four months ago. The three Godwins were able to spend Thanksgiving together in Kuwait.

"It was like a home away from home," Spc. Godwin said.

The soldier’s brother-in-law, George Urban, is a civilian contractor at Logistical Support Area Anaconda, the United States’ main supply hub north of Baghdad. Spc. Godwin said his brother-in-law works on uparmoring military vehicles and has already promised to help the 278th secure any extra armor it may need.

His mother, Virginia Godwin, said she’s proud of her family because they are serving their country any way they can.

"It’s hard to be without your husband and your sons, and you worry about them," said Mrs. Godwin, a real estate agent in Tellico Plains, Tenn. "That’s just what we do because we love our country. It’s the finest country around."

Spc. Godwin, a UTC freshman engineering major, said his time in Kuwait eased his worries about the safety of his dad and brother.

"I’ve seen first hand that the threat level is a lot lower in Kuwait than Iraq," he said. "That makes me happier than anything else."

Although only a few hundred miles separate them, Spc. Godwin said traveling in Iraq is too dangerous for the three to visit one another again. But he said his father is thinking about extending his civilian contract so he still will be in Kuwait when his son returns.

E-mail Lee Pitts at lpitts@timesfreepress.com
E-mail Dorie Turner at dturner@timesfreepress.com

Contributed Photo A soldier with the 278 th Regimental Combat Team works with "hillbilly armor" at Camp Buehring, Kuwait.

Contributed Photo Spc. Michael Godwin, left, of the 278 th Regimental Combat Team poses with his father, Jim, and twin brother, Malcolm, who both work as civilian contractors at Camp Arijan, Kuwait.

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