T5 JOSEPH F. GOEDEN - B Co
"The most important thing is that I never got to see our first baby, a little girl, until she was two years old. She was born while we were on the ship going overseas. Four or five days after D-Day we were in an Orchard and I had to stand guard in a Fox Hole. The soldier I had relieved told me, "There is something on the other side of that hedge. Something was making a noise." That was the longest two hours I have ever spent. At the end of the two hours a cow let out a bellow and was I ever relieved. We thought it could have been a German boy."
1. My Wartime nicknames:
I never had a nickname but Cizek always called me Kake for some reason.
2. Medals and Special Honors I received while in the Army:
Rifle, Sharp Shooter, Good Conduct
3. Some funny things I remember about the war:
I was chosen to go to Fort Hood to Automotive School. We slept in a two story Barracks and we had bunk beds we slept in. The soldier that slept in the top bunk above me fell out of bed one night. He got up and walked in his sleep down the stairs and outside and walked all around. I followed him because I had heard he walked in his sleep. He went back upstairs and went to bed. The next morning he said to me, "Joe I hurt all over." So I told him what had happened to him and that I had followed him to see that he would come back to bed again.
4. My memories of the way we lived in Europe:
After D-Day we lived in Fox Holes, orchards, under our vehicles, and in old buildings. When we was in an orchard I had made my bed up in a low spot between the trees. I slept so well I did not even know it had rained during the night. I woke up in a gully of water and everything was soaking wet.
I met a family while we were in Northern Ireland and every Sunday morning after Church they would invite me and a couple of the other soldiers into their home for tea. I still keep in touch with that family. We even went over to visit them.
5. My most vivid memories from World War II:
The most important thing is that I never got to see our first baby, a little girl, until she was two years old. She was born while we were on the ship going overseas. Four or five days after D-Day we were in an Orchard and I had to stand guard in a Fox Hole. The soldier I had relieved told me, "There is something on the other side of that hedge. Something was making a noise." That was the longest two hours I have ever spent. At the end of the two hours a cow let out a bellow and was I ever relieved. We thought it could have been a German boy.
6. My memories of the conditions of the countries I was in during the war:
It was sad to see what war could do to some of the lovely old buildings. We were staying in a Motel next to a river and I had a German made two wheeled trailer with a light plant on it along side of the building with a Statue of the Blessed Virgin next to the trailer. Incoming fire blew holes in the building and my trailer but the Statue of the Blessed Virgin was not touched. There was not a mark on the Statue at all.
7. Something about the war that is difficult to talk about, but I'd like future Americans to know:
On top of a hill in the Argonne forest I found three men that had been injured by land mines. They were our men and I later learned that one died and the other two lived. I never received any kind of medal for finding them.
8. In spite of the hardships of war, I am proud to have served my country in World War II because:
It was an experience that I will never forget. It made most of us closer than families and we still seem to stick together. I got to see a lot of the world and I would do it again if I was younger.
9. My message to my lifelong buddies in the 818th:
I would like to see more of our buddies make our annual T.D. reunions. I am glad I have been able to make as many as I have. It is great to see you and your families every year. God bless each and every one of you.
