In Memoriam: William Goines, first Black member of Navy SEALs

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William Goines is the first Black member of the modern-era SEALs in the early 1960s.

Goines passed away June 10 at a hospital in Virginia. The cause was a heart attack, said his wife, Marie Goines.

He was 87.

William Goines was a NAVY SEALs

In 1962, William “Bill” Goines became the first African American Navy SEAL.

Navy SEALs are the United States Navy’s elite special operations force. SEAL is an acronym for Sea, Air, and Land, which exemplifys all the environments in which SEALs are trained to operate.

Early beginnings

Goines was born in Dayton, Ohio, on September 10, 1936. He attended all-Black Lockland Wayne High School where his affinity for the Navy began while watching the movie The Frogmen, which focused on the US Navy’s UDT or Underwater Demolition Teams, the precursors to SEALs.

Due to segregation, Blacks were not allowed in Dayton’s public swimming pools.

“We were never allowed to swim in that pool,” Goines told the Enquirer. “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, Goines did not let that stop him and taught himself how to swim in a nearby creek, the Little Miami River, and a pool in Hartwell, Ohio.

Upon graduating from high school in 1955, Giones joined the Navy and underwent grueling training for two years.

Master Chief Petty Officer William Goines died Monday, June 10. He was 88 years old. (U.S. Naval Institute)

After an 11-month tour in Malta, Goines was among the first group chosen to serve on the newly established SEAL teams. Of the 80 men selected upon the official 1962 inception of the teams, Goines was the only Black man.

While Fred “Tiz” Morrison is often credited with being the nation’s first Black Navy SEAL, Morrison served in the Navy’s underwater demolition teams during WWII and Korea. Goines has the distinction of being the first Black Navy SEAL as the SEAL teams are known today.

Goines went on to serve three tours in Vietnam with SEAL teams before serving five years with the Chuting Stars, a Navy Parachute Demonstration Team.

Life after Navy SEALs

After 32 years of service, Goines retired in 1987 as a master chief petty officer.

He received many commendations such as the Bronze Star, the Navy Commendation Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, a Combat Action Ribbon, and the Presidential Unit Citation.

Following his retirement, Goines became a police chief in the Portsmouth, Virginia, school system for more than a decade. He later volunteered to help recruit people of color into the SEALs, according to Cincinnati.com.

Goines is survived by his wife.