Lloyd Geist was born in New Orleans [Annotator's Note: New Orleans, Louisiana] in July 1921. His family moved to Houma [Annotator's Note: Houma, Louisiana] when he was four years old. He grew up with two brothers and two sisters. Geist's father was an immigrant from Germany and worked with his Geist's great-uncle. When Geist was in high school, he began learning to fly with his friend's father. Geist graduated from high school in 1938 and began working for Texaco Corporation. He decided to enlist in the Army Air Corp in December 1939, but did not have any college education, so he could not apply to be an officer or a pilot. He was sent to Barksdale Field in Shreveport [Annotator's Note: now Barksdale Air Force Base in Shreveport, Louisiana] and went through basic training. Upon completion, he was sent to mechanic school in Tulsa, Oklahoma, then went to MacDill Field, Florida [Annotator's Note: now MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida] and worked on B-18 [Annotator's Note: Douglas B-18 Bolo medium bomber], and later B-17 [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber] and B-24 [Annotator's Note: Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber].

Due to a pilot shortage, after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941], Geist was selected to go to pilot school in January 1942. He was sent to primary flight school in Decatur, Alabama, and basic and advanced flying schools in Georgia. He graduated flight training in September 1942 and was sent to Clearwater, Florida to complete a certain number of flying hours. Geist remained there as an instructor for several months then transferred to Baton Rouge [Annotator's Note: Baton Rouge, Louisiana] to instruct an overseas training unit, and then to Wright Field [Annotator's Note: now Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio] to test P-47 [Annotator's Note: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighter aircraft]. He returned to Florida, testing more new plane models. In January 1944, the Army Air Corp formed a group of instructor pilots and sent them to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina as part of the 508th Fighter Squadron, 404th Fighter Group [Annotator's Note: 9th Air Force] and trained with P-39s [Annotator's Note: Bell B-39 Airacobra fighter aircraft]. They shipped out from New York [Annotator's Note: New York, New York] on a ship with a large convoy to Liverpool [Annotator's Note: Liverpool, England]. He was transferred to an airfield outside Christchurch, England, where he was given P-47s to fly. Geist feels that he had great instructors while he trained to be a pilot.

Lloyd Geist's first mission was a sweep over France on 1 May 1944. The mission was uneventful. Geist recalled that he did not know anything about his mission for D-Day [Annotator's Note: Allied invasion of Normandy, France on 6 June 1944] until the night before the event. He took off just after daybreak and was assigned to patrol the beaches to make sure the Allied troops were not strafed as they invaded the shore. There were so many planes in the sky and so many ships in the water. The beaches had turned from a gray to a black from all the oil the various watercraft and equipment. He flew three missions on D-Day, and his last mission was at night. His following missions would be dive bombing with P-47s [Annotator's Note: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighter aircraft].

After the invasion of Normandy [Annotator's Note: Normandy, France], Lloyd Geist and his unit [Annotator's Note: 508th Fighter Squadron, 404th Fighter Group, 9th Air Force] were transferred from an air base in England to an air base near Sainte-Mère-Église, France on 5 July 1944. Geist remarked that the air base was so close to the front lines that they had to communicate with the artillery to stop shooting when they wanted to take off or land a plane. His unit worked with the ground troops to dive bomb and strafe target areas. Missions of dive bombing and strafing were very dangerous because they would be attacked all the time by antiaircraft fire. Geist, on two occasions, was hit but was able to return to base safely. [Annotator's Note: The interviewee takes time to look at his flight log notes from 0:38:38.000 to 0:39:47.000.] He also recalled that it was difficult to take-off because of the weight of the bombs and fuel they carried on the planes. He worked with his crew chief to adjust his plane so he could take-off quick. Geist and his unit moved as the ground troops advanced through France. His next base was near Paris [Annotator's Note: Paris, France] and then eventually near Saint Trond, Belgium [Annotator's Note: Saint Truiden, Belgium]. He enjoyed the quarters in Belgium because he slept in barracks and got hot meals. Geist flew 50 missions and was given a leave [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] in London, England which he did not enjoy due to the continuous bombing from the Germans. He returned to Belgium and completed another 18 missions and was given another leave to Paris. While in Paris he received orders to return to the United States.

Lloyd Geist learned the art of bartering by trading a fifth of whiskey for a BMW [Annotator's Note: Bayerische Motoren Werke AG or Bavarian Motor Works AG] motorcycle which he kept with him through his time in Europe. Geist's father was a German immigrant, so he had many cousins fighting for the German military. Geist recalled the time where he shot down a German airplane in October 1944. He was on a mission to escort B-26s [Annotator's Note: Martin B-26 Marauder medium bomber] to bomb Bonn, Germany when he spotted German planes heading in their direction. Geist ended up chasing one plane and was able to shoot him down without getting hit by antiaircraft artillery. The plane crashed into the Rhine River. Geist had an interaction with a French farmer who sold him a cow. The farmer than offered him a drink that was very strong. While he was stationed in Belgium, the locals would leave treats for his unit [Annotator's Note: 508th Fighter Squadron, 404th Fighter Group, 9th Air Force] at their barracks.

Lloyd Geist recalls that during the Battle of Saint-Lo [Annotator's Note: Saint-Lô, France] he was sitting in his airplane waiting to take-off when all a sudden there were explosions everywhere. He got out of his plane and dived into a ditch for cover. His friend was hit by shrapnel that Geist removed from his back. Later they found out that a B-26 [Annotator's Note: Martin B-26 Marauder medium bomber] plane accidently dropped the bombs causing all the explosions and killing several men. Geist recalls being healthy over all during his service in Europe. Geist returned home in November 1944. He was sent to Kingman, Arizona in 1945 to fly P-63s [Annotator's Bell P-63 Kingcobra fighter aircraft]. In February, he was sent to California for two months as an instructor, then he went to Abilene, Texas to serve as a test pilot. In August 1945, he was discharged under the point system. In June 1946, Geist purchased an airplane to service passengers back and forth to Houma [Annotator's Note: Houma, Louisiana], and he also opened a flying school using the G.I. Bill. He eventually started a charter business.

Lloyd Geist contributes his military and career success to his basic flying instructor, who taught him to feel the plane when flying. His instructor taught him several aerobatic tricks that helped him understand how to fly confidently. Geist loves the P-39 [Annotator's Note: Bell P-39 Airacobra fighter aircraft]. He taught himself how to fly amphibious planes. He worked as a pilot for Texaco Corporation shortly after he returned from World War 2, but before working at a flying school for a couple of years. Geist mentions that he did not have radar available during his service in World War 2. He flew a mission out of England to Orleans, France to dive bomb a train depot. After strafing the trains, he began receiving antiaircraft fire as they returned to base. He made it through the heavy fire, but as they made their way across the English Channel a British ship began shooting at them. They thought they were German planes.