First Black Navy SEAL, William Goines, dies at 88
By Claire Barrett
Jun 18, 2024, 08:25 PM
Master Chief Petty Officer William Goines died Monday, June 10. He was 88 years old. (U.S. Naval Institute)
William Goines, the man credited with being the first Black Navy SEAL in the modern SEAL team era, passed away Monday, June 10, the U.S. Naval Institute confirmed. He was 88 years old.
Born in 1936, Goines’ childhood in Lockland, Ohio, was spent in a segregated community where the town’s lone public pool may as well have been a myth, Goines told the Cincinnati-based Enquirer in 2016.
“We were never allowed to swim in that pool,” he said. “When integration came to the area, the way I understand it, they filled the pool in with rocks and gravel so nobody could swim in it.”
Yet the Ohio native was drawn to the water. Inspired to join the Navy after watching the film “The Frogmen” — about underwater demolition operations during World War II — Goines enlisted in 1955 at the age of 19.
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2024/06/19/first-black-navy-seal-william-goines-dies-at-88/#:~:text=William%20Goines%2C%20the%20man%20credited,He%20was%2088%20years%20old.
