From 'Miss Fortune's Last Mission'
GEORGE GODDARD Pilot
"Even though I never knew my father," Skipper Goddard Miller wrote to John Torrison, "I always felt a strong connection to him through my grandparents. I learned much about him when I traveled to Texas to spend summers with them in his hometown of Ennis. My father grew up in this small town atmosphere, where everybody knew everybody and everyone knew George. There were pictures of him everywhere, and I thought he was very handsome indeed."
George Goddard was attending what then was called North Texas State Teachers College in hopes of becoming a school teacher when war broke out in Europe and the Pacific. Like many of his generation, he was convinced the Axis powers were a threat to human freedom, perhaps even to human existence, and good, basic, everyday people had to do everything in their power to stop them. It was a simple, unnuanced belief, but these were simpler, less nuanced times. George practically ran to the recruiting office and signed up to become a pilot in the Army Air Corps. He was only twenty.
By the time he turned twenty-three, Goddard was piloting B-24s over Europe, devoting himself to the air war that was helping to tighten the noose around Hitler's Germany. The mission in the air had evolved, especially as the Allied powers knew that Big Week was approaching: from protecting troops on the ground by out- flying and outshooting their Luftwaffe fighter counterparts to de- stroying the factories that kept them in the air. Cities like Augsburg and finally Regensburg became an undesired part of George's geographic vocabulary.
Before he set off on what proved to be his final mission, George received exciting news that his wife was expecting a baby. As his crew aboard Miss Fortune had already taken to calling him "Skipper," the naming flowed naturally from there. "Little Skipper" the child would be, both to the crew for its brief time remaining and for the rest of Skipper's life."
Pilot of B-24J Liberator #42-73138, was killed in Czechoslovakia on mission from Italy to bomb Regensburg, Germany. Their plane was shot down and crashed near Pradlo and Nepomuk, Czechoslovakia. Czech villagers collected the crew's scattered remains and buried the remains in a single coffin in Pokoj Vam cemetery in Pradlo.
On June 16, 1950, the crew's remains were reinterred at Jefferson Barracks, now in two coffins with full military honors
Only SSgt. Raymond Noury survived the crash. Czech memorials over the years, for the crew's sacrifice and Raymond Noury videos can be watched on Youtube
Killed In Action were:
1st Lt. George M Goddard, Jr, Pilot
1st Lt. Haig Kandarian, Co-Pilot
1st Lt. Joseph F Altemus, Navigator
1st Lt. Charles F Spickard, Jr, Bombardier
TSgt. Oscar W Houser, Engineer
SSgt. Harold C Carter, Armorer-Gunner
SSgt. John A Goldbach, Nose Gunner
SSgt. Roy E Hughes, Radio Operator
SSgt. Wayneworth E Nelson, Tail Gunner
SSgt. Rexford H Rhodes, Asst. Engineer
George's' crew and their sacrifice was never forgotten by the Czech villagers who dedicated memorials at the crash site and hold yearly ceremonies in their honor. Their story was chronicled in the book; "Miss Fortune's Last Mission" by William J. Boyce/John H. Torrison with John DeMers (Bright Sky Press)
GEORGE GODDARD Pilot
"Even though I never knew my father," Skipper Goddard Miller wrote to John Torrison, "I always felt a strong connection to him through my grandparents. I learned much about him when I traveled to Texas to spend summers with them in his hometown of Ennis. My father grew up in this small town atmosphere, where everybody knew everybody and everyone knew George. There were pictures of him everywhere, and I thought he was very handsome indeed."
George Goddard was attending what then was called North Texas State Teachers College in hopes of becoming a school teacher when war broke out in Europe and the Pacific. Like many of his generation, he was convinced the Axis powers were a threat to human freedom, perhaps even to human existence, and good, basic, everyday people had to do everything in their power to stop them. It was a simple, unnuanced belief, but these were simpler, less nuanced times. George practically ran to the recruiting office and signed up to become a pilot in the Army Air Corps. He was only twenty.
By the time he turned twenty-three, Goddard was piloting B-24s over Europe, devoting himself to the air war that was helping to tighten the noose around Hitler's Germany. The mission in the air had evolved, especially as the Allied powers knew that Big Week was approaching: from protecting troops on the ground by out- flying and outshooting their Luftwaffe fighter counterparts to de- stroying the factories that kept them in the air. Cities like Augsburg and finally Regensburg became an undesired part of George's geographic vocabulary.
Before he set off on what proved to be his final mission, George received exciting news that his wife was expecting a baby. As his crew aboard Miss Fortune had already taken to calling him "Skipper," the naming flowed naturally from there. "Little Skipper" the child would be, both to the crew for its brief time remaining and for the rest of Skipper's life."
Pilot of B-24J Liberator #42-73138, was killed in Czechoslovakia on mission from Italy to bomb Regensburg, Germany. Their plane was shot down and crashed near Pradlo and Nepomuk, Czechoslovakia. Czech villagers collected the crew's scattered remains and buried the remains in a single coffin in Pokoj Vam cemetery in Pradlo.
On June 16, 1950, the crew's remains were reinterred at Jefferson Barracks, now in two coffins with full military honors
Only SSgt. Raymond Noury survived the crash. Czech memorials over the years, for the crew's sacrifice and Raymond Noury videos can be watched on Youtube
Killed In Action were:
1st Lt. George M Goddard, Jr, Pilot
1st Lt. Haig Kandarian, Co-Pilot
1st Lt. Joseph F Altemus, Navigator
1st Lt. Charles F Spickard, Jr, Bombardier
TSgt. Oscar W Houser, Engineer
SSgt. Harold C Carter, Armorer-Gunner
SSgt. John A Goldbach, Nose Gunner
SSgt. Roy E Hughes, Radio Operator
SSgt. Wayneworth E Nelson, Tail Gunner
SSgt. Rexford H Rhodes, Asst. Engineer
George's' crew and their sacrifice was never forgotten by the Czech villagers who dedicated memorials at the crash site and hold yearly ceremonies in their honor. Their story was chronicled in the book; "Miss Fortune's Last Mission" by William J. Boyce/John H. Torrison with John DeMers (Bright Sky Press)
From 'Miss Fortune's Last Mission'
GEORGE GODDARD Pilot
"Even though I never knew my father," Skipper Goddard Miller wrote to John Torrison, "I always felt a strong connection to him through my grandparents. I learned much about him when I traveled to Texas to spend summers with them in his hometown of Ennis. My father grew up in this small town atmosphere, where everybody knew everybody and everyone knew George. There were pictures of him everywhere, and I thought he was very handsome indeed."
George Goddard was attending what then was called North Texas State Teachers College in hopes of becoming a school teacher when war broke out in Europe and the Pacific. Like many of his generation, he was convinced the Axis powers were a threat to human freedom, perhaps even to human existence, and good, basic, everyday people had to do everything in their power to stop them. It was a simple, unnuanced belief, but these were simpler, less nuanced times. George practically ran to the recruiting office and signed up to become a pilot in the Army Air Corps. He was only twenty.
By the time he turned twenty-three, Goddard was piloting B-24s over Europe, devoting himself to the air war that was helping to tighten the noose around Hitler's Germany. The mission in the air had evolved, especially as the Allied powers knew that Big Week was approaching: from protecting troops on the ground by out- flying and outshooting their Luftwaffe fighter counterparts to de- stroying the factories that kept them in the air. Cities like Augsburg and finally Regensburg became an undesired part of George's geographic vocabulary.
Before he set off on what proved to be his final mission, George received exciting news that his wife was expecting a baby. As his crew aboard Miss Fortune had already taken to calling him "Skipper," the naming flowed naturally from there. "Little Skipper" the child would be, both to the crew for its brief time remaining and for the rest of Skipper's life."
Pilot of B-24J Liberator #42-73138, was killed in Czechoslovakia on mission from Italy to bomb Regensburg, Germany. Their plane was shot down and crashed near Pradlo and Nepomuk, Czechoslovakia. Czech villagers collected the crew's scattered remains and buried the remains in a single coffin in Pokoj Vam cemetery in Pradlo.
On June 16, 1950, the crew's remains were reinterred at Jefferson Barracks, now in two coffins with full military honors
Only SSgt. Raymond Noury survived the crash. Czech memorials over the years, for the crew's sacrifice and Raymond Noury videos can be watched on Youtube
Killed In Action were:
1st Lt. George M Goddard, Jr, Pilot
1st Lt. Haig Kandarian, Co-Pilot
1st Lt. Joseph F Altemus, Navigator
1st Lt. Charles F Spickard, Jr, Bombardier
TSgt. Oscar W Houser, Engineer
SSgt. Harold C Carter, Armorer-Gunner
SSgt. John A Goldbach, Nose Gunner
SSgt. Roy E Hughes, Radio Operator
SSgt. Wayneworth E Nelson, Tail Gunner
SSgt. Rexford H Rhodes, Asst. Engineer
George's' crew and their sacrifice was never forgotten by the Czech villagers who dedicated memorials at the crash site and hold yearly ceremonies in their honor. Their story was chronicled in the book; "Miss Fortune's Last Mission" by William J. Boyce/John H. Torrison with John DeMers (Bright Sky Press)
GEORGE GODDARD Pilot
"Even though I never knew my father," Skipper Goddard Miller wrote to John Torrison, "I always felt a strong connection to him through my grandparents. I learned much about him when I traveled to Texas to spend summers with them in his hometown of Ennis. My father grew up in this small town atmosphere, where everybody knew everybody and everyone knew George. There were pictures of him everywhere, and I thought he was very handsome indeed."
George Goddard was attending what then was called North Texas State Teachers College in hopes of becoming a school teacher when war broke out in Europe and the Pacific. Like many of his generation, he was convinced the Axis powers were a threat to human freedom, perhaps even to human existence, and good, basic, everyday people had to do everything in their power to stop them. It was a simple, unnuanced belief, but these were simpler, less nuanced times. George practically ran to the recruiting office and signed up to become a pilot in the Army Air Corps. He was only twenty.
By the time he turned twenty-three, Goddard was piloting B-24s over Europe, devoting himself to the air war that was helping to tighten the noose around Hitler's Germany. The mission in the air had evolved, especially as the Allied powers knew that Big Week was approaching: from protecting troops on the ground by out- flying and outshooting their Luftwaffe fighter counterparts to de- stroying the factories that kept them in the air. Cities like Augsburg and finally Regensburg became an undesired part of George's geographic vocabulary.
Before he set off on what proved to be his final mission, George received exciting news that his wife was expecting a baby. As his crew aboard Miss Fortune had already taken to calling him "Skipper," the naming flowed naturally from there. "Little Skipper" the child would be, both to the crew for its brief time remaining and for the rest of Skipper's life."
Pilot of B-24J Liberator #42-73138, was killed in Czechoslovakia on mission from Italy to bomb Regensburg, Germany. Their plane was shot down and crashed near Pradlo and Nepomuk, Czechoslovakia. Czech villagers collected the crew's scattered remains and buried the remains in a single coffin in Pokoj Vam cemetery in Pradlo.
On June 16, 1950, the crew's remains were reinterred at Jefferson Barracks, now in two coffins with full military honors
Only SSgt. Raymond Noury survived the crash. Czech memorials over the years, for the crew's sacrifice and Raymond Noury videos can be watched on Youtube
Killed In Action were:
1st Lt. George M Goddard, Jr, Pilot
1st Lt. Haig Kandarian, Co-Pilot
1st Lt. Joseph F Altemus, Navigator
1st Lt. Charles F Spickard, Jr, Bombardier
TSgt. Oscar W Houser, Engineer
SSgt. Harold C Carter, Armorer-Gunner
SSgt. John A Goldbach, Nose Gunner
SSgt. Roy E Hughes, Radio Operator
SSgt. Wayneworth E Nelson, Tail Gunner
SSgt. Rexford H Rhodes, Asst. Engineer
George's' crew and their sacrifice was never forgotten by the Czech villagers who dedicated memorials at the crash site and hold yearly ceremonies in their honor. Their story was chronicled in the book; "Miss Fortune's Last Mission" by William J. Boyce/John H. Torrison with John DeMers (Bright Sky Press)
Inscription
1LT, 343 AAF BOMB SQ, 98 BOMB GP WORLD WAR II
Gravesite Details
Entered the service from Texas; ASN O-725718
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