Oral history interview of Gordon Paul Goecke

Collection:: Veterans History Project: Oral History Interviews
Title:: Oral history interview of Gordon Paul Goecke
Creator:: Gardner, Robert D.
Goecke, Gordon Paul, 1922-2010
Date of Original:: 2004-05-20
Subject:: B-24 (Bomber)
Douglas DC-4 (Transport plane)
Amphibious assault ships
World War, 1939-1945--Japan
Airplanes--Fuel tanks
V-mail
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
English, Eugene M., 1916-1952
Haynes, Charles M.
Norstrom, Milton D., 1916-
Gall, John J., Jr., 1921-1999
Lutsey, Noel M., Jr., 1919-2006
Pyle, Ernie, 1900-1945
MacArthur, Douglas, 1880-1964
United States. Army Air Forces. Air Transport Command
United States. Marine Corps
United States. Army. Air Corps. Bombardment Group, 380th. Squadron, 530th
United States. Air Force Reserve
Consolidated B-24 Liberator
Douglas C-54 Skymaster
Self-sealing fuel tanks
World War, 1939-1945--Japan--Surrender
Location:: Indonesia, Balikpapan, -1.2398711, 116.8593379
Japan, Okinawa-shi, 26.33583, 127.80139
Philippines, Clark Field
Philippines, Mindoro, 12.8692137, 121.134575750245
Taiwan, 23.69781, 120.960515
United States, Arizona, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, 32.17079565, -110.869902396303
United States, California, City and County of San Francisco, San Francisco, 37.77493, -122.41942
United States, California, Sacramento County, Sacramento, 38.58157, -121.4944
United States, Georgia, 32.75042, -83.50018
United States, Georgia, Atlanta Metropolitan Area, 33.8498, 84.4383
United States, Illinois, George Field, 41.5160882, -90.3793527403084
United States, Nebraska, Lancaster County, Lincoln, 40.8, -96.66696
United States, North Dakota, Cass County, Fargo, 46.87719, -96.7898
United States, Wisconsin, Jefferson County, Watertown, 43.19472, -88.72899
United States, Wisconsin, Monroe County, Town of Lafayette, Fort McCoy, 44.03907, -90.67662
Medium:: video recordings (physical artifacts)
hi-8
Type:: Moving Image
Format:: video/quicktime
Description:: In this interview, Gordon Goecke recalls his history in the United States Army Air Corps in the Pacific during World War II. He registered for the draft and traveled by troop train from Milwaukee (Wis.) to Miami (Fla.). There he lived in a hotel that he says was stripped down by the Army. He remembers traveling to Johnston Island, Kwajalein, Tarawa, and Nadzab (New Guinea) on his way to the Pacific from San Francisco. His unit flew combat missions into Finschhafen and other locations around the Pacific, including the White Cloud Airdrome in Canton (China) and Fort Drum in Manila (Philippines). Most of their casualties were from weather or mechanical failures. He recalls several harrowing and humorous experiences that took place during their missions. He recalls the arrival of the Japanese surrender team in a Japanese "Betty" painted white with a green cross on it. During the surrender in the Pacific, his squadron was assigned to circle Tokyo Bay fully armed and loaded with instructions to drop the bombs if fired upon. He recalls having a wonderful view of the ceremony. He describes the medals he was awarded and displays a jacket with the wings of the Royal Australian Air Force.
Gordon Goecke was a pilot in the Army Air Corps in the Pacific during World War II.
ROBERT GARDNER: Today is May the 20th. This is an interview with Mr. Gordon Goecke, 311 Jefferson Circle, Sandy Springs, Georgia. Born 10/15 1922. Interviewer is Robert Gardner. Interview is being conducted at the Atlanta History Museum. Mr. GOECKE, were you drafted or did you enlist? GORDON GOECKE: I enlisted. ROBERT GARDNER: Where were you living at the time? GORDON GOECKE: In Watertown, Wisconsin. ROBERT GARDNER: Why did you join? GORDON GOECKE: I registered for the draft and I found at that time it was time to make a decision. Did I want to be an infantry man or did I want to be something else? I decided I would like to be a pilot in the Army Air Corp. ROBERT GARDNER: Do you recall your first day in the service? GORDON GOECKE: Yes. ROBERT GARDNER: What was it like? GORDON GOECKE: It was on a train trip – troop train going from Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Miami Beach, Florida, and it was not an air conditioned train and we stayed on it the entire trip, which last about 50 some hours. ROBERT GARDNER: Can you tell me about your boot camp or training experience? GORDON GOECKE: My training experience was in Miami Beach. We lived in a hotel. It sounds quite luxurious, but remember the Army will strip them down and you have nothing but bunk beds and none of the entities of a hotel room. We did a lot of practice marching. And on the sands of the coral of Miami Beach it's quite white, quite dazzling in the sun also. In those days sun glasses, in no way could you wear them, so by the time the day was up of your eight hours of up and down in the coral, you were not only tired but your eyes were glazed. ROBERT GARDNER: Do you remember any of your instructors? GORDON GOECKE: Yes. I went into flight training, and I have a log book with all of my instructors. My first instructor was a man by the name of Mundy. He was a civilian instead of an air force officer and he contracted to teach Army Air Corp. students. ROBERT GARDNER: How did you get through it? GORDON GOECKE: With a lot of sweat, and I say that because I am not a natural born pilot. I managed to make sloppy turns according to the instructors. I managed to not hold altitude as correctly as he would have liked. I got through it though simply because I knew what I wanted and I wanted to be a pilot and that was it. No matter what it took I was going to be a pilot. ROBERT GARDNER: Which war or wars did you serve in? GORDON GOECKE: WWII. ROBERT GARDNER: Where exactly did you go? GORDON GOECKE: I started out in the Continental United States. After my graduation as a Second Lieutenant from George Field, Illinois we went to Lincoln, Nebraska, the B24 crews -- a B24 consisted of ten people. We formed into a crew at Lincoln, Nebraska then went on to Davis-Monthan Field in Tucson, Arizona for transition training prior to going overseas. And I left for overseas from Sacramento, California. ROBERT GARDNER: Do you remember arriving overseas and what it was like? GORDON GOECKE: Yes, very much. We went overseas in a C54, which was a transport plane and it was operated by the Air Transport Command. We went from San Francisco to Hawaii to Johnson Island to Kwajalein, to Tarawa and then to Nedzep [phonetic], New Guinea. ROBERT GARDNER: What exactly was your job or assignment on the aircraft? GORDON GOECKE: I was a B24 pilot and a four engine pilot had and MOS of 1092. ROBERT GARDNER: Did you see combat? GORDON GOECKE: Yes. In the South Pacific we flew combat strikes from Nedzep Lay, New Guinea into Finchhaven and so – and then we also did a lot bombing of the oil fields in Balakampin [phonetic], and many of our flights were 12 to 14 hours. I also was in Mindoro Island in the Philippines where we flew against the Japanese as they were bringing planes back into China and Okinawa with the French IndoChina. ROBERT GARDNER: Were there many casualties in your unit? GORDON GOECKE: From actual combat not so many. Most of our killed in action or killed were related to mis-functional aircraft and/or perhaps weather. ROBERT GARDNER: Could you tell me about a couple of your most memorable experiences? GORDON GOECKE: Yes. One of the most memorable…we were to do some railroad yard bombings in Phan Rang, China – no, in Whitecloud [phonetic] Air Drum -- I'm sorry – in China. And when we went over the rail yards – we went in at about a thousand feet and one of our other assignments was to take out a bridge. Well, to take out a bridge with a 500 pound bomb from a B24 is almost impossible. The phase of it that I do remember quite well, there were a group of people on one of the shores, one of them had a bicycle, and he started riding across the bridge as we were making our bombing pass. Wouldn't you know the one bomb in a thousand that hit hit that bridge and he and the bicycle I'm sure were oblivion. It was so unusual to see somebody coming for what was an intended target riding a bicycle and he certainly went up in glory. ROBERT GARDNER: Do you have any experiences you'd like to relate? GORDON GOECKE: Yes. The Japanese, at the time they were under siege in the Philippines at Fort Drum located in the harbor of Manila. One of our assignments was to try to bomb them out of that Fort Drum, and that exactly what it was. It was a drum deep down into the water where they'd go under. Our bombs would just basically hit and bounce off. We never did bomb it into submission. I was later taken over by the Marines who made an amphibious assault against it. But it was a memorable experience to see the city of Manila laying before you and circling the harbor, and we did a lot of circling. The most – I'm going to relate one more experience, and I think this is the most thrilling that I've ever seen. When the Japanese surrendered, the Battleship Missouri, as all of you know, was in the harbor and we had the assignment of circling the harbor on armed patrol fully loaded with bombs and ammunition and were told to drop if we were fired at any time. We of course could not go over Tokyo Bay itself. The armada was under us but we certainly had a wonderful view of all of the surrender ceremonies. And it is only in recent years I had another thrill and that was on a trip to China passing over Tokyo Bay in its peace time status. ROBERT GARDNER: What type of things did you notice that were different other than that you didn't have a large armada of military ships out there over Tokyo Bay when you went over? GORDON GOECKE: Well, there was a lot of air cover of course. Not only were the heavy bombers in the parade, but there were quite a few fighter aircraft, and the harbor of course was a busy activity of the signing – everything else was barred. There was not water activity whatsoever during the surrender ceremonies. If you ever saw a lot ships – battleship and other – that was it. ROBERT GARDNER: Were you awarded any medals or citations? GORDON GOECKE: Yes. I was awarded the Air Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster. I was awarded the – well, just a minute here. I should know them. Really basically I do. ROBERT GARDNER: That's okay. GORDON GOECKE: I was ordered the Asiatic Pacific Theatre Ribbon with eight battle stars. I had the World War II victory ribbon. The Philippine liberation ribbon and I've also received the Army commendation medal. ROBERT GARDNER: Were these for any particular events that happened, or these were just – GORDON GOECKE: They basically were awards. You received the air medal after so many hours of combat and after that then you received an oak leaf cluster for the additional hour accumulated. The Asiatic Pacific was basically because you were in the theatre of operations and flying combat patrols during that time. ROBERT GARDNER: You mentioned the combat and the bombing runs. What was that like? GORDON GOECKE: A bombing run basically is very boring until you get to the target. As I said, we had a lot of runs that were 10, 12, 13 hours. Can I just put a little side light and say that in the course of these bombing raids we had no sanitary facilities on those bombers. We did have K-ration boxes, so those people who felt an urge would do it into the K-ration box. We had great joy in tossing those out with the bombs, and we always wondered what Tojo said when they hit. The other area that is particularly – during the time that you're over target there is a certain amount of anti-aircraft fire. The Japanese did not have the anti-aircraft fire that the people in Europe found. We did, on a bombing run over [unintelligible] Formosa at a copper factory, get hit, and we got pretty well winged in the area of the wings where you could just see the gas flowing out. Fortunately, our self-sealing tanks did take over and we got away from the target area. We then had the long run back of about six hours. And we had available – we did lose one engine. We lost number three engine, which was shot out, so we were flying on three engines. We also had the opportunity at the bottom of Formosa to rendezvous with a submarine and ditch the airplane and/or try to make it back to Clark Field. To ditch an airplane just is not always very successful for all ten people, so we opted to go to Clark Field. We threw 50 caliber machine guns out, we threw out everything we could get our hands on to get back. We did make it back to Clark Field, we landed, and they looked over the airplane and declared it junk. So they save the engines and junked the rest of the fusel lodge. At that time we were on Mindoro Island in the Philippines, which is approximately another eight to nine hundred miles away so we finally got in touch with our bomb group who sent an aircraft up to come and get us, and that was one of my most thrilling adventures during the time we were bombing. ROBERT GARDNER: Were you in command of the aircraft at the time? GORDON GOECKE: I was the pilot, yes. ROBERT GARDNER: So you had to make the ultimate decision whether to – GORDON GOECKE: Correct. ROBERT GARDNER: -- keep on trying. GORDON GOECKE: Yes. We certainly had a quick conference with all members of the crew and almost every one of them said let's try it. Ditching to a submarine on a patrol not only is it very hazardous to ditch but you also have the contemplated staying in that submarine sardine can type thing until they reach shore somewhere. It was not a desirable type situation. ROBERT GARDNER: I can understand that. [LAUGHTER] GORDON GOECKE: [LAUGHTER] ROBERT GARDNER: That sounds like a very harrowing experience for a young man to have to go through. GORDON GOECKE: It's a harrowing experience now. In those days it wasn't. It was just an adventure. When you look back on it from this standpoint, yes, then we didn't think all that much of it. We were just glad to get back to Clark Field. ROBERT GARDNER: How did you stay in touch with your family? GORDON GOECKE: By mail. They had v-mail. I don't know if many people these days know what a v-mail is. They know email of course. V-mail was a little letter or photograph that was sent on to you. ROBERT GARDNER: Did you get many care packages from your family, or – GORDON GOECKE: No. Not because they didn't want to send them, but simply because of the distance involved and the supply factor. For people who were Europe, bear in mind that we in the Pacific were supposedly in a holding war. We did not have the equipment that was to come to us after the defeat of Germany. So, consequently, many of our supplies were very limited, our air mail services and mail services were also somewhat limited. ROBERT GARDNER: What was the food like? GORDON GOECKE: It was powdered eggs, it was bacon in cans, and very salty. The average mess was powdered stuff and fresh vegetables. The juices were not very frequent. We did get a beer ration once a week of two cans of beer. It was flown in from Australia. And the beer – the only way – we had no refrigeration as such. The only way to get beer cool was to put in a sock, hang it outside your tent, and drink it first thing in the morning, then it was cool. And of course, two cans you're not going to get in a lot of trouble. ROBERT GARDNER: Did you have plenty of supplies? GORDON GOECKE: No. As I said earlier, most of the things – for example, in Europe every crew had their own airplane. We did not have enough airplanes so that each individual crew could have an airplane. We rotated airplanes. One crew would fly it one day, one crew the next day and so on. ROBERT GARDNER: Did this cause any unusual problems or stress or anything because you weren't able to be familiar with the craft? GORDON GOECKE: No, a B24 is a B24. Whether you fly a model M or you fly a Model J or something like that. They're basically all of the same. The only basic things that we didn't – I couldn't call them stress but they were always on our mind, we really didn't get the amount of flying hours that we wanted to complete our tour to go home. So as a net result in the rotating crews without sufficient air force, therefore, you couldn't utilize the full extent of your crews. ROBERT GARDNER: How many hours would you have had to fly to be able to leave the theatre of operations at the end of your planned duty cycle? GORDON GOECKE: Well, we didn't have a set amount of hours as they did – or missions as they did in Europe. We went on hours. I had 256 combat hours in, and I was not ready to come home except for the fact that the war ended. I probably would have had to stay for another 100 hours. Three hundred to three hundred and fifty was normal for rotation of crews. ROBERT GARDNER: Was there something special you did for good luck? GORDON GOECKE: No, I never had any particular qualms or worries about having some token or something as a good – keep me safe. ROBERT GARDNER: How did people entertain themselves? GORDON GOECKE: We did not have much entertainment. To entertain yourself basically would be to see if you couldn't find an army bakery somewhere and con them out of a loaf of bread, see if you couldn't, somewhere on the island, find a cantaloupe or a melon or something. We did not have any organized activities as such. We did have evening movies, but other than that you were pretty much on your own to find yourself something to do. Reading was very popular; books were very scarce. ROBERT GARDNER: Did you ever get any professional entertainers to come in? GORDON GOECKE: There were some. I remember in Lay, New Guinea when there was an entertainer there. I unfortunately at this stage don't remember who it was. But as an average, no, we got very few. ROBERT GARDNER: Did you get any leave while you were over there? GORDON GOECKE: No. No. ROBERT GARDNER: Where did you travel while in the service? GORDON GOECKE: Well, I traveled in the continental United States from Miami Beach to Bennettsville, South Carolina, from South Carolina Sharfield in Sumter, Georgia – South Carolina rather. Then from there on I went to Tampa, Florida to fly gunnery students for a while. From there I went, as I earlier related, Lincoln, Nebraska, Tucson, Arizona, Sacramento, California for departure. ROBERT GARDNER: Do you recall any particular humorous or unusual events? GORDON GOECKE: Well, the unusual events I basically spoke to you about the bicycle going over the bridge. Other than that, no, I don't recall all that much. ROBERT GARDNER: Were there any pranks that you or others would pull on each other? GORDON GOECKE: Certainly. There are always some pranks. We couldn't do too much. One of them was the sudden inflation of an air mattress during the night. We did not have Quonset hut type barracks or anything else. We lived strictly in tents. And earlier you asked about activities. Well, we were always trying to build a wooden floor for our tent, so we try to hustle up wooden ammunition boxes and things like that. And our pranks were not all – we did have an unusual incident in the island of Mindoro. We were kind of up on a high hill and one of the gentlemen, and I remember his name, his name was Lieutenant English, decided we should have some pork chops. Well, pork chops you know just don't come through the regular supply route. How did he decide to get the pork chop? He shot a pig in a farmer's field below us, and that farmer was a little irate, came charging up the hill waving a machete and saying “you killed my pig!” “You killed my pig!” Every body got into their wallet, picked out a dollar or so and paid the man off an enjoyed our pork chops. ROBERT GARDNER: Do you have any photographs? GORDON GOECKE: Yes, quite a few. ROBERT GARDNER: Would you like to show them to us, please? GORDON GOECKE: Yes. Definitely. ROBERT GARDNER: Let's put this on hold a minute while you get those ready. GORDON GOECKE: First of all, I'm going to give you something of interest and that's nose art on B24 airplanes. Now, we're not going to be mention this on film but pom-pom over there is sex. ROBERT GARDNER: Uh-huh, okay. [LAUGHTER] GORDON GOECKE: How do you want these laid out? Any particular order? ROBERT GARDNER: Well, what I'll do is I'll have you – if you can hold them up. GORDON GOECKE: Yeah, you bet. ROBERT GARDNER: And that way you know you can hold them as you're talking, and what I'll do is I'll zoom in on them. GORDON GOECKE: Okay. By the way, this is something people don't see, but when I registered for the draft that made me decide it was time to go enlist. ROBERT GARDNER: Oh boy. GORDON GOECKE: And this is what a younger Gordon looked like. ROBERT GARDNER: All right. We need to do that. Oh yes. GORDON GOECKE: And this, as I told you, was Ernie Pyle's monument on IE Shima. And I have another picture of it basically – this was his original grave site. He's now in the Punch Bowl in Hawaii as you probably know. And this was the other monument in conjunction with that one. I should have said earlier when you said what are your activities, I should have really told you scrounging. ROBERT GARDNER: [LAUGHTER] GORDON GOECKE: This is our shower. It's a P38 belly tank that we filled with water and stood under for a shower. ROBERT GARDNER: I spent four years in the Air Force from '61 to '65 and was over in England and France, and I know what you mean about going and scrounging things up. GORDON GOECKE: Yeah. [LAUGHTER] ROBERT GARDNER: It's amazing the things that you remember that went on. GORDON GOECKE: Isn't that the truth. These are some of our living conditions and this is a B24 and its crew. At that time I went overseas as a co-pilot, and I'm standing right there. ROBERT GARDNER: So what we'll do is we can start with this and then – what I'll have to have you do is hold it somewhere like that – GORDON GOECKE: Right, okay. ROBERT GARDNER: -- just because of the reflection – GORDON GOECKE: Yeah, you can tell me on that. ROBERT GARDNER: -- if it's too much I'll just ask you to just tilt it forward a little bit. And then you can describe who the people are in there and when you get to yourself I'll zoom in onto you. GORDON GOECKE: Okay. All of these crew members are alive except one. ROBERT GARDNER: Wow. GORDON GOECKE: And this is the one here. ROBERT GARDNER: That's an interesting point. GORDON GOECKE: Johnny Gall. Uh-huh. John Gall is the only one who is not with us any more. ROBERT GARDNER: That's really unusual. GORDON GOECKE: Uh-huh, yeah. Noel Lutzy was a senior pilot at that time. Noel's in Minneapolis and he must be around 85 or 86 right now. ROBERT GARDNER: I've met quite a few people that were up in years, and some of them boy, they were sharper than a lot of the other people. [LAUGHTER] GORDON GOECKE: All right, let me get my glasses off. I don't really need them except for close work and I'm fortunate in that. ROBERT GARDNER: Okay. If you'd like you can show us some of the pictures that you have now. GORDON GOECKE: I'd be glad to. Let's start it off by showing a B24 and its ten man crew. There were four officers and six enlisted men. The individual – the first one is the pilot. At that time I was a co-pilot, and I am next to the second one. The other one in there is the navigator, whose name was Charlie Hanes in the Bombardier Nordstrom. It's interesting to know that all of these people are alive with the exception of one individual, and that's John Gall at the bottom part of the picture. And of course, none of us are spring chickens any more. The average age of us now, the Bombardier, is probably up to 86 or 87 today. Noel Lutzy, the pilot I spoke to, is 85. I'm 81. And the rest of the gentlemen are living in all parts of the United States. I do hear from several of them at Christmas time. We do exchange Christmas cards. ROBERT GARDNER: Oh, that's wonderful that you're still together after all these years. GORDON GOECKE: That's right. ROBERT GARDNER: All the experiences that you shared together. That's great. And some other ones. GORDON GOECKE: Unlike Europe, as I spoke of, we lived in tents. These are some of the tent areas that we had on Mindoro Island in the Philippines. Notice the washer man in there and our washing machine. It's a big drum with a paddle to stir the clothes and then we agitate it, so that became our automatic washer then. The island of Mindoro was our home for approximately four months before we moved on to Okinawa. One of the big delights as you can see, I believe I'm sitting there in a chair; we made that out of ammunition crates also. ROBERT GARDNER: You were the first original recyclers. GORDON GOECKE: [LAUGHTER] Well, pretty close. That's a good thought. I hadn't given that much attention to it, so I'm – [LAUGHTER]. The pictures that you see here are nose art on airplanes. Almost every B24 had some type of nose art, as well as other aircraft in the Air Corp fleet, and as I mentioned earlier, we were the US Army Air Corp not the US Army Air Force. We preceded the Air Force, which came into its own in about 1946 or seven. Can you see these? ROBERT GARDNER: Could you hold those up? GORDON GOECKE: Yes. ROBERT GARDNER: Oops. GORDON GOECKE: Oops. We didn't get that. All right. ROBERT GARDNER: Okay. GORDON GOECKE: Each mission that was on a bombing was recorded by placing a bomb on – a picture of a bomb beside. As you can see, this aircraft has been on quite a few missions. ROBERT GARDNER: Oh yes. Wow. GORDON GOECKE: Again, denoting the missions this craft was on. And slightly dangerous was always quite a little airplane to fly. One of the pilots over there had a girlfriend and he depicted her on one of the aircraft. He talked the ground crew into painting a little likeness of her on it. ROBERT GARDNER: That had to mean a lot to him and to her both. GORDON GOECKE: It did. Unfortunately, again as I say, we rotated airplanes so he didn't fly that all the time. ROBERT GARDNER: That's still a fantastic memento for him to have. GORDON GOECKE: This picture is the sanitary facilities, also know as a latrine. In the New Guinea area it was not uncommon to be comfortably perched on a latrine and have a stroll of natives walking by. The father with a bow and arrow over his back, the wife in tow, and behind that, three, four, five, six kids. So, it was a scenic area. ROBERT GARDNER: [LAUGHTER] You learned that modesty wasn't something to be concerned with. GORDON GOECKE: That's about right. This picture is one of a B24 aircraft. It was taken, again, with a small little baby brownie Kodak, which is nothing like the sophistication of today's digital cameras, but it took the pictures they did. This was our living quarters. I'm one of the people photographed on there. It was a luxury to get enough ammunition boxes together to make a wooden floor on there, because the minute it rained, and it rained a lot in the South Pacific, the tent floor became a sea of mud. I'm relaxing against the side of a B24. We normally wore flying suits, a one piece garment, and it was rare that we'd be in khakis or anything and it was a rare day on this one. Of course, I really helped by supporting this airplane. ROBERT GARDNER: [LAUGHTER] GORDON GOECKE: Can we use this? ROBERT GARDNER: Sure. GORDON GOECKE: While I don't look like this now that's how I did look. When I went through flight school and graduate you either graduated as a flight officer or as a Second Lieutenant. I was fortunate to be the Second Lieutenant. This is our luxury of a shower. It consists of a P38 belly tank that we scrounged and built a tripod to put it up on and by the time that you left it out in the sun for a while in the Pacific you had a good hot shower when you were ready. ROBERT GARDNER: The inventiveness of man. GORDON GOECKE: There was a very popular war correspondent whose name was Ernie Pyle. Some of the older people would recognize that name. I'm sure some of the younger ones won't. Ernie, unfortunately, was killed on Island of IE Shima just north of Okinawa. This is his original grave. Ernie's body is now in the Punch Bowl in Hawaii. This is a picture of our Bombardier and his combat gear. We all wore 45 automatics in a shoulder holster as he has on there. When we'd go on a mission we were always given an escape packet. It would have a silk map of the areas. It would have some currency, and it would have a little compass in it. It was in a waterproof kit and you'd take it out, when you came back you would always turn it back in. A luxury was to find someone on the island who grew some type of melon and we would find it an extreme luxury to be able to have one of those. You want to go into the diary yet. ROBERT GARDNER: How about the pictures of the Japanese – the surrender pictures. GORDON GOECKE: Oh, good. Sure. These pictures depict the arrival of the Japanese surrender team. They came in a Betty airplane, which was the nomenclature for the type aircraft they were flying. It was painted white and had a green cross on it. This was on the island of Okinawa, and you can see the United States Generals greeting them in one of the pictures. The picture that shows a tall gentlemen there is that of General McArthur. They went into a transport plane and were transported into Manila where the details of the ceremony were worked out. As you all know, the final ceremony was on the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. ROBERT GARDNER: Those are fantastic pictures. Wonderful. GORDON GOECKE: I am looking for a place someday to – who has a museum to put those on display. These two books represent an accurate record – certified record of all my flying hours and where the flights were to. So this is when I went to preparatory. This is a piper club flight record where we put in ten hours. This is the graduation onto the PT17, the PT13, the A10, and then the B24. ROBERT GARDNER: That's a big step. GORDON GOECKE: It is. It's really so. ROBERT GARDNER: This is a picture of a B24 over a target area. The B24 would carry a variety of bombs depending on its mission. The heaviest bomb it would carry would be a 4,000 pounder. The average site was probably 500 to 2000 pounds. If you carried 4,000 pounders you could only carry four of them. If you carried 500 pound bombs you could carry 20 of them. So it varied the capacity on what you were transporting what type of target you were working. This is the history of the 380th bomb group and its five squadrons, the 529th, the 530th, the 531st, and the 5th Air Force, which we were a part of at that time. By way of interest, the 5th Air Force has never been stationed within the Continental United States. It has always been overseas. ROBERT GARDNER: Interesting. GORDON GOECKE: Uh-huh. You might just want to – this is showing some of the area that we were stationed in and/or bombed against. ROBERT GARDNER: Lot of water there. GORDON GOECKE: Lot of them water. You bet there is. And just off the record, speaking for your edification, the 380th bomb group regularly has reunions. We had the last one in Williamsburg, West Virginia. Our next one is in Boston. ROBERT GARDNER: Oh. GORDON GOECKE: The 380th bomb group has one of the most comprehensive histories of anybody that you'll find. Here are copies of many of our original orders that sent us overseas and sent the bomb groups where they were and so forth. Again, this is something that if somebody puts a World War II exhibit together, I'd like to donate. ROBERT GARDNER: They've got one that they're getting ready to put together here. You have to talk to Frances – GORDON GOECKE: Yeah, I will. ROBERT GARDNER: But they've got one that they're getting ready to put together. I don't know how far along they are on it. Did you happen to keep a personal diary. GORDON GOECKE: I did. This is it right here in my hand. I have in it such as incidents bombing runs we went onto, the number of airplane that we flew in, number of hours, where we went to, and a lot of drivel of leisure time trying to scrounge things. ROBERT GARDNER: What did you think of your fellow officers or soldiers? GORDON GOECKE: An individual that you're with every day of the week, 24 hours of day, you have no problems with. We all got along well, we respected each other, and we had fun when we could. The commanding officers of the groups and so forth, they all had one thing in mind, let's do our best to win the war. ROBERT GARDNER: Do you recall the day your service ended? GORDON GOECKE: I certainly do. I was discharged at Fort McCoy – it was Camp McCoy, Wisconsin in those days and had about a four hour train ride to meet my wife who I had not seen for over 11 months and my mother and family. And funny thing about it when I arrived my wife was in the bath tub, so you can imagine how hurriedly she got put together. ROBERT GARDNER: What did you do in the days and weeks afterward? GORDON GOECKE: Tried to – well, first of all, to be honest with you, tried to figure out what to do in the ensuing time. Also, because I lived in a small town, the population which was about 10,000 at the time, I received quite a few offers from clubs and so forth to make speaking appearances, which I did. I was on leave until the end of January and after that I immediately started looking for work. I did not feel that schooling was for me at the time. And as a net result I wound up going to work. ROBERT GARDNER: Did you eventually go to school under the GI Bill? GORDON GOECKE: No, I did not. Well, let me rephrase that. Yes, I took some flying lessons to acquire commercial flight license, which I do have in possession a commercial pilot's license. For a little after thought, I did think of flying with the airlines. I made applications at United, Northwest, and American. I found out that the jobs were going to the six, seven thousand, eight hour pilots, and my little 1500 hours didn't count for much, so it gave that thought of a career up. ROBERT GARDNER: Did you make any close friendships while in service? GORDON GOECKE: Yes. Some of them I still keep in contact with. There were fellows from other squadrons. I do go the 280th Bomb Group reunion each year and re-meet some friends that I've known through the years in being in the reunion and bomb group association. There's a gentlemen by the name of Bob who I particularly remember and we correspond with to this day. ROBERT GARDNER: Did you join any other veteran's organizations? GORDON GOECKE: I belong to the VFW, as well as the American Legion. And I belong to the Silver Wings fraternity, which requires that you have soloed and airplane at least 25 years ago. ROBERT GARDNER: What did you go on to do as a career after the war? GORDON GOECKE: I originally went to work for what was then known as Retail Credit Corporation. They're now known as Equifax. I stayed with them for about two years and found that General Motors was hiring. I went to work for General Motors in their insurance division known as Motors Insurance Corporation and I worked out of Milwaukee, Fargo, North Dakota and areas such as that. I was a branch manager when I retired. ROBERT GARDNER: Did your military experience influence your thinking about war or about the military in general. GORDON GOECKE: It convinced me in several things that the discipline that the Army produces is very good in putting a career together. It makes you dedicated to your work I think. ROBERT GARDNER: If you belong to a veteran's organization what kind of activities does your post or association have? GORDON GOECKE: I do not know. I am very inactive in it. Frankly in retirement I'm busier than I was before I retired, I swear. ROBERT GARDNER: You mentioned that you attend the reunions basically for the bomber group reunions. GORDON GOECKE: Yes. This is the 380th bomb group and its squadrons and it encompasses anybody who was in it, and it does not designate just officers or enlisted men or anything like that. It encompasses all. ROBERT GARDNER: How did you service and experience affect your life? GORDON GOECKE: It affected me in knowing that I think that there is a purpose in life. In everything that there is something to accomplish whether it is getting an increase in wages, whether it is doing your work to the capability that you feel it should be done, and it also, again, going on a repeating basis it taught me discipline. It taught me that when you want to do something, and I think the biggest thing that I got out of it I really was not a proficient pilot, but I wanted to be one so bad that I overcame any road blocks in its path simply because I wanted to be one and it showed me if you're dedicated enough you can do it. Again, as I said, I was not a natural born pilot. ROBERT GARDNER: Is there anything you'd like to add that we have not covered in this interview? GORDON GOECKE: No, other than the fact that I gained a lot from my experience. I probably would not be where I was today had I not gone through it. I did believe enough in the Army that I stayed with it. I stayed in reserve. I am retired from the Army and I retired as a Major. ROBERT GARDNER: Well, I want to thank you very much for doing this interview. It has been my pleasure, and I really appreciate you taking the time to give us your story. Thank you so much. GORDON GOECKE: Bob, it was a pleasure to be with you this morning. ROBERT GARDNER: I appreciate it. Thank you. [END INTERVIEW] [KS]
Metadata URL:: http://album.atlantahistorycenter.com/cdm/ref/collection/VHPohr/id/177
Additional Rights Information:: This material is protected by copyright law. (Title 17, U.S. Code) Permission for use must be cleared through the Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center. Licensing agreement may be required.
Extent:: 41:54
Original Collection:: Veterans History Project oral history recordings
Veterans History Project collection, MSS 1010, Kenan Research Center, Atlanta History Center
Holding Institution:: Atlanta History Center
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