John Geiger was born in Newark, New Jersey in April 1923. He had two sisters. His father was a contractor for trucking and rigging. He went to high school in South Orange, New Jersey. He was in ROTC [Annotator's Note: Reserve Officer Training Corps]. He enlisted in the Army March 1943. The war was on while he was in high school. The war was not a big topic. The Depression [Annotator's Note: Great Depression; a global economic depression that lasted through the 1930s] was on and it was more talked about than the war until people started to go to work. The military knew they would need officers. The ROTC would be a good supply. They put them through college. Geiger went into the Army. He wanted to go into the Marine Corps, but he found out that he was color blind and failed to get in. First, he went to Fort Dix, New Jersey. Then he went to Fort Jackson, South Carolina. He joined the 106th Division [Annotator’s Note: 106th Infantry Division] for basic training. Then he was transferred to the 31st Division [Annotator’s Note: 31st Infantry Division]. He could not wait to get into the war. His unit shipped out to New Guinea in 1944.

John Geiger was shipped to New Guinea [Annotator’s Note: serving with the 31st Infantry Division]. They went through the Panama Canal [Annotator's Note: a manmade canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans between North and South America]. They did not have an escort. They were on the ship for 30 days and only got two meals per day. The bunks were stacked four or five high. They were told they would be doing maneuvers. Geiger did not want to do maneuvers. He wanted to get right into the war. He decided to volunteer for intelligence work. There were eight enlisted men and four officers who volunteered. Each of them had to go through an interview process. The selection was based on the interviews. Colonel Bradshaw told them that they would learn how to do intelligence and reconnaissance work, and that they would be working behind enemy lines and would be using rubber boats. They had a nice camp. The learned Morse code and radio work. They trained in the jungle with rubber boats. They had to swim every day. They had electricity. At the end of the six weeks, they did a drill and had to pass that in order to be approved. They had to do a ballot to select which three men and which officers they would want to be on a mission with, it was very democratic. They waited for two weeks to be assigned to Woendi Island about 300 miles off the New Guinea coast [Annotator’s Note: Mios Woendi island in the Schouten Island chain in eastern Indonesia]. They had to have confidence in each other. Most of them were outdoor guys and well-educated.

John Geiger [Annotator’s Note: part of an intelligence and reconnaissance team known as the Alamo Scouts, the US 6th Army Special Reconnaissance Unit] remembers his crew. They knew what their team was doing, but did not know what the other teams were doing. Colonel Bradshaw [Annotator’s Note: Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Bradshaw] was in charge of the intelligence teams. Then he was transferred back to headquarters and they got a new commander. One guy used to tell jokes during training and missions. Geiger thinks Dick Winters [Annotator’s Note: Richard Davis Winters, commanding officer of Company E, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, memorialized in Stephen Ambrose’s book Band of Brothers] was the best leader of World War Two. In intelligence, they do not know who will make it until they get out there on missions. Geiger knew if he was a Second Lieutenant he would have to lead. They wanted to be closer to the Philippines. Some leaders were better at different types of missions. They had priority to fly any place they needed, to use vehicles, and to draw supplies. They would go to the airstrip and they would tell the tower where they needed to go. The tower would make room for them on flights. If they had to go by boat, they would get put on the next boat.

John Geiger [Annotator’s Note: a member of the 6th Army Special Reconnaissance Unit known as the Alamo Scouts] remembers that they could see where the mountains were on the maps. They had to find out if there were water sources and if the ground was soft. They had to see if coral was a serious problem. They would let leadership know if there were any fortifications or big guns. They could not tell exactly how many Japs [Annotator's Note: a period derogatory term for Japanese] were there, but they could make an estimate based on footprints and other means. The first mission was about a week after they all became scouts. The 6th Army was called the Alamo Force because General Kruger [Annotator’s Note: Lieutenant General Walter Krueger, Commanding General of the U.S. Sixth Army] lived near the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas. They got their information at their camp. Then they decided chose their uniforms, weapons, K rations [Annotator's Note: individual daily combat food ration consisting of three boxed meals] and C rations [Annotator's Note: prepared and canned wet combat food] for food supply, and supplies for sleeping. They would take a jungle hammock, a poncho, or just a blanket. Then they would fly wherever they needed to go and would take a PT boat [Annotator’s Note: A PT boat was a motor torpedo boat used by the United States Navy in World War II] with their rubber boats deflated. The captain would know where to put them ashore. They would stop about a mile offshore, then they would put the rubber boat in the water and inflate it. They would get in and paddle to shore. The first mission was to see if they could put in a couple of airstrips, if there were fortifications, and if there was any fresh water. The beach was very narrow. They would radio the boat and let them know they had made it ashore, and then they were on their own for three or four days. Geiger was the point man on the first mission. They had to find the river. As they were leaving, there were Japs walking on the beach. Then they went inland and saw more Japs. Geiger had to find a good place for them to bivouac [Annotator's Note: a bivouac is a temporary campsite]. They were 50 yards from the busy trail. They were there for two days and satisfied the officer with everything he wanted to learn. They were picked up in the middle of the night by the PT boat. The guys on the boat thought they were heroes.

John Geiger was security for the officer while on missions. They took the officer wherever he wanted to go. Every mission was different. Bob Ross was meticulous. He made a book that he wrote in after every mission. On the website, it is called Bob Ross’s diary. John McGowen [Annotator’s Note: First Lieutenant John R. C. McGowen] was the first one to go on a mission [Annotator’s Note: 27 -28 February 1944]. They flew over on an Army amphibious plane. The 1st Cavalry Division did a great job. Geiger felt like he was with a celebrity with John McGowen. They went on a good mission to Leyte [Annotator’s Note: Leyte, the Philippines]. Then they went on a crazy mission. Two boats were shot up. There were a lot of casualties, and a couple of deaths. They went to a native village. They did not have a perimeter in place. The Japanese were using the village. Geiger’s team was called upon to go check it out. They came across a patrol of engineers. Then they came across two Japs [Annotator's Note: a period derogatory term for Japanese] on the trail. The Japs surrendered and they took them back to the engineers. The engineers put them in the stockade.

John Geiger [Annotator’s Note: serving with the 6th Army Special Reconnaissance Unit, known as the Alamo Scouts] and his men saw another Jap [Annotator's Note: a period derogatory term for Japanese] and they circled him. He tried to run and they fired at him. Turns out he was only 14 years old. They missed him, but then they had him with them and took care of him and fed him. Ross could speak several languages. They wanted the kid to take them back Arso [Annotator’s Note: spelling uncertain]. They made a bivouac [Annotator's Note: a bivouac is a temporary campsite] off the trail. There were Japs in the native village. They had to kill two guys silently to get to the other ones. The two guys were cooking breakfast and had no idea they were being snuck up on. Geiger and his team had a plan to get it done. They killed the Japs and then moved into the village. They heard someone say “American” and then they started getting shot at. There was hand-to-hand fighting and shooting. They managed to get away. They took souvenirs from the village. The kid was still with them. He was a nice kid. They killed about eight Japs. There was no radio. They did not see any natives. Arso was an endurance test. They used jungle hammocks on this mission. They were there for five or six days.

John Geiger [Annotator’s Note: serving with the 6th Army Special Reconnaissance Unit, known as the Alamo Scouts] was stationed in Leyte Gulf [Annotator’s Note: Leyte Gulf, the Philippines]. They were supposed to go to one of the islands. They had ammunition and rations. They came across the Japs [Annotator's Note: a period derogatory term for Japanese] who were bringing troops in from other islands. They were bringing them to Leyte. They sank a barge with 20 or 30 Japs on it. One of the boats behind them started shooting at Geiger’s boat because there was confusion in the night. They no longer had radio, lights, or radar because they were shot at. Geiger wrote in the captain’s log. They were adrift looking for the other boats. Geiger saw the bow of one of the other PT boats [Annotator’s Note: A PT boat was a motor torpedo boat used by the United States Navy in World War II] collide with the stern of his boat. Smoke was coming out of their boat. The good boat found them and took the seriously wounded with them. As they got to the southern part of Leyte, there was a Navy station. Geiger had shrapnel in him and it was removed. They had a boat that was half sinking. They had to throw things overboard. They went back to the aid station. The next morning, they were able to get back. Some teams had to rescue missionaries. Every mission was different.

John Geiger [Annotator’s Note: serving with the 6th Army Special Reconnaissance Unit, known as the Alamo Scouts] remembers they would look for pilots who had been shot down. One time there was a pilot who ran out of gas and was picked up. The pilot left his information in the plane so the Japs [Annotator's Note: a period derogatory term for Japanese] would not get it. One of the intelligence teams went back to the plane with the pilot to retrieve the information. They had two Filipino guerrilla fighters as their guides on Leyte [Annotator’s Note: Leyte, the Philippines] for a mission. The Filipinos told them not to go because there were too many Japs. The two guides took them part of the way. McGowen [Annotator’s Note: First Lieutenant John R. C. McGowen] led the mission to get them to their destination. It was a rugged trail. They crossed some mountains. They came across a farmer and his granddaughter who let the team sleep in their hut. That night, Filipino guerrillas guarded the hut. The Filipinos talked the team into going back to their camp. The Filipinos were celebrating because the Americans were there. Geiger thought they were failing the mission.

John Geiger [Annotator’s Note: serving with the 6th Army Special Reconnaissance Unit, known as the Alamo Scouts] did not hear about the war ending until a few days later. They heard about a really big bomb. They did not know anything about atomic bombs [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945]. Then the Japs [Annotator's Note: a period derogatory term for Japanese] came out of the mountains to surrender. Quite a few were shot on the way to surrender. The infantry was not taking many prisoners. Geiger and his team ended up at a pineapple plantation and they ate pineapple for a month. Geiger had enough points to go home [Annotator's Note: a point system was devised based on a number of factors that determined when American servicemen serving overseas could return home]. He got on a troop ship to go home. They went under the Golden Gate Bridge and docked in San Francisco [Annotator’s Note: San Francisco, California] where there was a band playing Dixie. Then they went to Camp Stoneman [Annotator’s Note: Army facility in California] and Geiger got on a train to go east. They crossed the country in day coaches. Geiger still had his tropical uniform on. The train stopped at Fort Monmouth [Annotator’s Note: Monmouth County, New Jersey]. It was cold. Geiger went AWOL [Annotator's Note: absent without leave] and hitchhiked home to East Orange [Annotator’s Note: Orange, New Jersey]. The next day he returned to Fort Monmouth and was discharged on Christmas Day [Annotator’s Note: 25 December 1945]. He never thought about the war after that. In 1980, he was contacted by an old teammate and they started an association.

John Geiger remembers when he was in New Guinea [Annotator’s Note: serving with the 6th Army Special Reconnaissance Unit, known as the Alamo Scouts], he was in combat only about 10 percent of the time. They would go from one frame of mind to another. Some of the missions were tough and he was nervous. Other missions were easy and they could be careless. The paratroopers were in combat for a couple of weeks. The Battle of the Bulge [Annotator's Note: Battle of the Bulge or German Ardennes Counter Offensive, 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945] was tough and lasted for a while. Geiger did not have it that hard. Geiger got to see MacArthur [Annotator's Note: General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander, Southwest Pacific Area]. When Geiger was in the hospital, one of the scouts came to see him. They were going to go to the Philippines. He rejoined the scouts. They went to Leyte [Annotator’s Note: Leyte, the Philippines]. They were on an LST [Annotator's Note: Landing Ship, Tank]. They were standing on the top deck when a shell went through the bridge and killed everyone on the bridge. Then another shell landed on the iron deck. The ship went up on the beach. Geiger went to find his leader. He saw some dead men. Then he found his leader and they walked a half mile and waited. They were in a coconut grove. The signal corps were putting up their equipment. The landing craft knew where to drop MacArthur off. The jeeps came in on the LSTs.