Scott Air Force Base in St. Clair County, Illinois — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
Harold E. Goettler
Photographed By Thomas Smith, 21/14/21
1. Harold E. Goettler Marker
First Lieutenant, United States Air Force
Congressional Medal of Honor.
Extraordinary heroism in airdropping supplies in the Argonne Forest.
October 1918.
Flight Training Scott Field, 1917,
Topics and series. This memorial is listed in these topic lists: Air & Space • War, World I. In addition, it is included in the Medal of Honor Recipients series list.
Location. 38° 32.519′ N, 89° 51.774′ W. Marker is in Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, in St. Clair County. Memorial is at the intersection of Goettler St and B St., on the left when traveling west on Goettler St. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Scott Air Force Base IL 62225, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Colonel Lawrence "Rocky" Lane (about 600 feet away, measured in a direct line); The Airlift / Tanker Association (about 600 feet away); South East Asia Memorial (about 600 feet away); Colonel Joe M. Jackson (about 700 feet away); Pioneers of Aerial Refueling (about 700 feet away); Donald W. Douglas (about 700 feet away); MSGT Roy W. Hooe (about 700 feet away); Gen Robert E. "Dutch" Huyser (about 700 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Scott Air Force Base.
Also see . . . A soldier’s final mission (UChicago Magazine, Fall '21)
this page online
"No one would have blamed him if he had decided not to fly again that day. During his first attempt to locate and resupply the men of the “Lost Battalion,” on October 6, 1918, Harold Goettler and his single-engine biplane had been nearly ripped to shreds by German machine gunners dug into the cliffs of a ravine deep in France’s Argonne Forest. But 1st Lt. Goettler, AS 1914, SB 1914, and his observer-gunner, 2nd Lt. Erwin R. Bleckley, believed they had seen through the fog signs of what was left of the nearly 700 men under Maj. Charles W. Whittlesey’s command. So Goettler decided, with permission from his commanding officer, to borrow another crew’s plane and try again...."(Submitted on December 15, 2021.)
Additional keywords. Lost Battalion
Photographed By Thomas Smith, December 14, 2021
2. Harold E. Goettler Marker
Credits. This page was last revised on December 15, 2021. It was originally submitted on December 15, 2021, by Thomas Smith of Waterloo, Ill. This page has been viewed 109 times since then and 6 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on December 15, 2021, by Thomas Smith of Waterloo, Ill. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.
