After Serving the Country in Three Wars, Panzer Associate Happy to Serve the Military Community
Panzer Barracks, Germany — Most people who encounter Jack Goldman know him as a cashier at the Panzer Exchange. Little do they know the stories that ripple under the surface from a military career spanning three decades and as many major wars.
After retiring from the service and as an ROTC instructor, he came to work at the Exchange not only as a way to stay busy, but to continue serving the military community.
“You see people coming through the register quite regularly. Every so often you run into someone who was in the ROTC program when you first started it at the high school, and they’ve already retired,” said Goldman, now 90. “Many times they’re field grade officers, many times they’re very successful in business, some are teachers.
Served in three wars
Goldman’s story is truly unique. He enlisted in the U.S. Army on Oct. 25, 1944. He had just turned 18.
“When I was in high school, the big heroes were the guys who would come back to school in a uniform,” Goldman said. “Every male student was anxious to get going.”
Goldman deployed to Austria, following the fall of Nazi Germany. His platoon monitored the huge influx of POWs and displaced Germans pouring back into the country.
Goldman then left the Army in November 1946, taking a four-year break in the Reserves before being called back to active duty in 1950 and deployed to Korea. For 13 months, he manned the border between the two Koreas as part of the 24th Infantry Division.
After retiring from the service and as an ROTC instructor, Goldman looked to work at the Exchange not only as a way to stay busy, but to continue serving the military community.
Opting to remain on active duty after Korea, Goldman’s next deployment came in 1967 to Vietnam with the 101st Airborne Division. In 1971, he deployed to Vietnam a second time at the U.S. Army headquarters in Saigon.
A military family connection
Goldman retired in Stuttgart, in 1978 as a chief warrant officer. He then established the first ROTC program at Stuttgart American High School, where he taught for 31 years.
One soul whose military career Goldman certainly influenced is that of his son, Glenn, who served 30 years in the Army, deploying to Iraq with the 82nd Airborne Division during Operation Desert Storm. He retired as a colonel.
“You can imagine how proud I am of him,” the elder Goldman said.
Teaching by actions
Sam Shinault, who manages the Panzer Exchange, said Goldman’s example sets a bar for associates.
“Chief Goldman rides 45 minutes one way to work, and he’s here at least 30 minutes prior to the start of his shift every day,” Shinault said. “Being prompt, doing the many functions of a cashier and taking care of the customer is what he teaches by his actions.”
