ROBERT E. GOODGAME, JR., CDR, USNR

Robert Goodgame, Jr. '32

Date of birth: May 20, 1909

Date of death: January 27, 1945

Age: 35

Lucky Bag

From the 1932 Lucky Bag:

ROBERT EDWARD GOODGAME, JR.

South Pittsburg, Tennessee

"Bob" "R. E."

Down where the muddy Tennessee River unwinds itself from the famous "Moccasin Bend" lies the town of South Pittsburg, famous for its femmes and "mountain dew."

Why Bob allowed his thirst for knowledge to lead him away from such a charming place we do not know. It is a fact though that, during his one year at the Alabama Polytechnic Institute in Auburn, Alabama, and during his four years here at the Academy, his greatest desire was to be able to visit his folks and "give the girls a treat."

Bob pledged Kappa Sigma before he became a Plebe. How he developed this taste for "pledging and plebing" he won't say; but he must have developed one to take such a drubbing and enjoy it.

His innumerable drags and friends are very thankful that his broad grin is constantly visible.

His sunny disposition, added to his determination "not to allow his books to interfere with his college education," has made him a fine chum.

Football; Wrestling; Baseball; Drum and Bugle Corps; C. P. O.

ROBERT EDWARD GOODGAME, JR.

South Pittsburg, Tennessee

"Bob" "R. E."

Down where the muddy Tennessee River unwinds itself from the famous "Moccasin Bend" lies the town of South Pittsburg, famous for its femmes and "mountain dew."

Why Bob allowed his thirst for knowledge to lead him away from such a charming place we do not know. It is a fact though that, during his one year at the Alabama Polytechnic Institute in Auburn, Alabama, and during his four years here at the Academy, his greatest desire was to be able to visit his folks and "give the girls a treat."

Bob pledged Kappa Sigma before he became a Plebe. How he developed this taste for "pledging and plebing" he won't say; but he must have developed one to take such a drubbing and enjoy it.

His innumerable drags and friends are very thankful that his broad grin is constantly visible.

His sunny disposition, added to his determination "not to allow his books to interfere with his college education," has made him a fine chum.

Football; Wrestling; Baseball; Drum and Bugle Corps; C. P. O.

Loss

From USS Kadashan Bay (CVE 76) History:

On 27 Jan [1945], the ship's executive officer, CDR Robert E. Goodgame, Jr. and the ship's medical officer, CDR M. V. Kappius, disappeared on a routine familiarization flight in a Dauntless Dive Bomber (SBD). No enemy activity was reported in the area and no trace was ever found of the men.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Robert was born in Texas and probably graduated from South Pittsburg high school like his brother John.
Before the Naval Academy, Robert studied Electrical Engineering at Alabama Polytechnic Institute at Auburn. He was a member of Kappa Sigma and a member of Battery “C.”
Robert married Virginia Louise Tyner on March 6, 1936, at her home in Los Angeles. Their son was Ronald.
His father Robert, a general store merchant, died in 1934; mother Annie; and sisters Annie Elizabeth, Frances and Eleanor. His four brothers were: Lt. (jg) John Thomas Goodgame, Navy Medical Corps who was a V-12 medical student at Vanderbilt University in 1945; Sgt. Charles Goodgame, U. S. Army in Belgium; Chief Petty Officer Max Goodgame with the Coast Guard in the Atlantic, and Rayburn who received a medical discharge.

His wife was listed as next of kin.

Robert Is remembered at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial.

Photographs

From the Auburn yearbook

Navy Directories & Officer Registers

The "Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps" was published annually from 1815 through at least the 1970s; it provided rank, command or station, and occasionally billet until the beginning of World War II when command/station was no longer included. Scanned copies were reviewed and data entered from the mid-1840s through 1922, when more-frequent Navy Directories were available.

The Navy Directory was a publication that provided information on the command, billet, and rank of every active and retired naval officer. Single editions have been found online from January 1915 and March 1918, and then from three to six editions per year from 1923 through 1940; the final edition is from April 1941.

The entries in both series of documents are sometimes cryptic and confusing. They are often inconsistent, even within an edition, with the name of commands; this is especially true for aviation squadrons in the 1920s and early 1930s.

Alumni listed at the same command may or may not have had significant interactions; they could have shared a stateroom or workspace, stood many hours of watch together… or, especially at the larger commands, they might not have known each other at all. The information provides the opportunity to draw connections that are otherwise invisible, though, and gives a fuller view of the professional experiences of these alumni in Memorial Hall.