Cpl. Albert R. Goen

Our Hometown Heroes

Albert R. Goen

Died in NC VA Hospital

Born on February 25, 1919, Albert R. Goen would enlist in the US Army on July 26, 1937, several years before U.S. entry into World War II. Having Barnesville connections, Cpl. Goen was a farmer and saw mill operator.

His father was Kirby S. Goen. His mother Elma Thornton Goen. They lived at 328 N. 1st Street, Griffin. Cpl. Goen had two brothers, Fred, who died in 1959 and Joe Elmer, who died in 1985. The 1940 census listed Albert as single.

He served in Company C of the 29th Infantry in the Army.

Apparently, Cpl. Goen became extremely ill while he was in service and was placed in the Veterans Administration Hospital in Oteen, NC on April 24, 1943. He would spend the next year in the hospital and would be listed as having died of “TB, chronic pulmonary disease” which was described as “far advanced” on June 23, 1944. Dr. C.L. Moore, administrator of the hospital, signed the death certificate.

His mother, Elma Thornton Goen, requested a headstone for her deceased son. He is buried in the Pleasant Hill Cemetery in Lamar County.