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 WILLIAMSTOWN,
Vt. - Glen Goodall was only 24 years old when he sailed into the
Pacific as a Vermont National Guardsman aboard the USS President
Coolidge in 1942. He served as a supply sergeant with the 172nd
Infantry Regiment, 43rd Division, otherwise known as the “Redwings.”
On Oct. 6, 1942, Goodall's division set sail from Fort Ord,
Calif., aboard the USS Coolidge. The soldiers ate two meals a day,
while keeping track of their barracks bags and rifles. After about
10 days, they ended up in New Caledonia and parked in the harbor for
a few more days.
“Our first sights of combat we saw from our
ship,” Goodall recalled. “We saw another ship moored with a big hole
straight through it and I thought, well that's not good.”
The USS Coolidge set out again, arriving three days later at the New
Hebrides Islands in the south Pacific on Oct. 26, 1942.
“We
pulled into the harbor and were just about to land when all of a
sudden, Errummp! Then Errummp! We had hit our own mines, two of
them,” Goodall said.
There were 5,000 men aboard when it hit
the mines. An announcement was broadcast to everyone that they were
going to abandon ship. The men were told to leave their baggage and
rifles on their bunks; that they would return the following day to
get them.
“We went over the ship on rope ladders. The funny
thing, when we were at Fort Ord, they put everyone through a two-day
course on using rope ladders. This doesn't sound like much, except
you have to climb down it a certain way, otherwise it won't balance
and it's a mess. Well, because of that little training that we got
there, we knew how to go over the side of the ship,” Goodall said.
“There were some boats there, but a lot of people swam to shore.
I remember we were close to shore. I was in a boat and when I
climbed out into the water, it was up to my knees and oil was
everywhere. Maybe 30 minutes to an hour later, the ship just keeled
over and disappeared.”
Goodall and the rest of the division
were stranded on the island for a few months waiting for another
U.S. ship to bring them supplies.
“We didn't have a
toothbrush. We didn't have a tent. We didn't have anything,” Goodall
recalled. “People on the island gave us what tents they could and we
lived that way for several months. My job was to get supplies
wherever I could get them, thank God for the Seabees and all the
other people on the island.”
“So the training continued,”
Goodall said, “because in the Army you either train to fight or you
fight.”
Once supplies arrived, they traveled onto
Guadalcanal, where the 172nd was originally supposed to relieve the
Marines before the Coolidge sank.
In May 1943, they were
given orders to invade the New Georgia group of islands. On June 30,
the 172nd landed on Rendova, helping to capture it in only three
days. Then they began island hopping: fighting first on Munda and
then on to Arundel. Finally, after one of the bloodiest battles of
the New Georgia Campaign, the Japanese were forced to evacuate the
island and the U.S. forces took control.
After the New
Georgia battles, the 172nd was awarded a resting period and was sent
to New Zealand. There, they continued to train and perform
maneuvers, but were also given time to relax and visit the sights.
Goodall on the other hand, came down with malaria and ended up
spending some time in the hospital.
In July 1943, the 172nd
left New Zealand and headed to New Guinea to help maintain control
of an airfield that had been occupied by U.S. troops since April. At
the end of December, they were given orders to head to the
Philippines. As part of the Luzon Campaign, fighting ensued for 175
days in the Philippines, with one of the toughest battles being the
capture of Ipo Dam.
“We landed and our primary goal was to
capture and take Ipo Dam because it was a major water supply for the
Philippines,” stated Goodall. “We had a lot of combat there; we lost
1,000 men and a lot of people were hurt.”
“Then we (U.S.)
dropped the atomic bombs. They came out with new orders, and we were
sent into Japan as occupational forces,” Goodall said.
Goodall's stay in Japan was a short one. Only there a few weeks, he
was notified that he had enough points and was headed home.
On Oct. 6, 1945, three years to the day they set sail, the 172nd
arrived back at Fort Ord, Calif.
“When we got in, everybody
was running for a phone. They had these huge rooms loaded with phone
booths and you'd go in and place your call,” Goodall said.
Goodall went in and tried to call his wife, Esther. The operator
told him that the lines were all busy, but that if he would sit and
wait, he would call Goodall back when the lines cleared. Goodall sat
all through the night, waiting to talk to his wife.
“We
finally got to talk to each other for the first time in three
years,” Goodall said with a little chuckle and a smile.
While overseas, Goodall was able to write to Esther almost every
day. At first, the mail service was not very good, but it eventually
got to where it was only taking five to six days to receive letters.
Ed Henry, the local postmaster in Montpelier, Vt., would call and
let Esther know when a letter had come in from her husband. He would
personally deliver the mail to her on his way home, even on Sundays.
Goodall traveled from Fort Ord, Calif., to Fort Devens,
Mass., where he was out-processed and discharged from service. He
went home to Montpelier, Vt., where he and his wife bought a home
and raised their two children.
This past June, Goodall's
son-in-law, Skip Lightsey, took him to Washington, D.C. There,
Goodall had the opportunity to visit the World War II Memorial and
meet up with long-time, family friend, Sen. Patrick Leahy.
“Glen Goodall has long been a friend of our family, and it was a
special treat and a great honor to welcome him and his son-in-law,
Skip, to the capitol for Glen's first visit. Glen's visit buoyed
everyone who met him that day. It was a day I'll never forget. We
all are so proud of, and grateful for, what he and the Greatest
Generation have done for our country. The departing tribute to Glen
that was organized by the city of Montpelier as he began his trip to
Washington was also so fitting and memorable,” said Leahy.
Glen Goodall and his wife, Esther, currently reside in Williamstown,
Vt. They were married on Dec. 25, 1941, and are getting ready to
celebrate their 72nd wedding anniversary.
Article and photo by U.S. Air National Guard Staff Sgt. Sarah Mattison
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2013
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