Thomas Goss was born in 1921 in Yonkers, New York but grew up in Long Island [Annotator’s Note: Long Island, New York]. The area he grew up in was in a rural part of New York City [Annotator’s Note: New York City]. He attended public school and graduated high school in 1939. Upon graduation, Goss found a job at the American Can Company as an office boy. After a year, he was transferred to Jersey City [Annotator’s Note: Jersey City, Jersey] where he worked as a timekeeper. When World War 2 broke out, Goss joined the Marine Corps in February 1942. He was sent to boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina for eight weeks. Goss was listening to a football game on the radio with his family when a special announcement came over the radio announcing that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. No one in his family knew the location of Pearl Harbor. He also soon learned about the Marine Corps holding the Japanese at Wake Island [Annotator’s Note: Marshall Islands], which made him want to go into the Marines. He remarked that the country was divided about the war, but when America was attacked, everyone wanted to fight the Japanese. After his completion of basic training at Parris Island, Goss was assigned to a Marine Corps aviation unit to train as a gunner. He was sent to Jacksonville [Annotator’s Note: Jacksonville, Florida]. He then volunteered to go to Texas to attend school at Texas A&M [Annotator’s Note: Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas]. He was allowed to go on liberty [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] on the weekends, so he often took a train to Houston [Annotator’s Note: Houston, Texas]. He met his wife-to-be at a dance in Houston. He remarked that when they first danced together, they could not understand what each other were saying. She had a heavy southern accent, and Goss had a strong New York accent. About a month later, Goss’ unit was given orders to report to San Diego [Annotator’s Note: San Diego, California], so his wife-to-be saw him off at the train station. He continued training in San Diego until a ship arrived in the harbor to take him to the Pacific. There were 5000 military personnel on the ship which took them to New Caledonia. As he looked out and saw other ships going into port at San Diego, he saw one with its fantail blown off and realized what war was really like. Goss served with Marine Air Group 25 as a radio operator on a DC-3 [Annotator's Note: Douglas DC-3 commercial airliner]. His unit’s mission was to supply Guadalcanal [Annotator’s Note: Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands].

Thomas Goss was sent overseas to New Caledonia with his unit [Annotator’s Note: Marine Air Group 25] as a radio operator on a DC-3 [Annotator's Note: Douglas DC-3 commercial airliner]. His unit’s mission was to supply Guadalcanal [Annotator’s Note: Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands]. Goss talked highly of Admiral Halsey [Annotator's Note: US Navy Fleet Admiral William F. Halsey]. He communicated through code what supplies were needed at Guadalcanal. Everything from drums of gas to weaponry and food. Then his unit would deliver the supplies and take the wounded off the island. His unit did these missions until the island was secured in February 1943. In April 1943, the Japanese tried to retake the island again. Goss was issued two layers of .30-caliber ammunition for his Springfield [Annotator's Note: .30 caliber Model 1903, or M1903, Springfield bolt action rifle]. He was then assigned to a rifle pit. He is thankful the Cactus Air Force group [Annotator’s Note: the Allied air power assigned to Guadalcanal from August to December 1942, "Cactus" coming from the code name for the island] came in and broke up the Japanese because he thinks he would not have made it out of Guadalcanal without their help. Goss was on Guadalcanal for about six months and endured nightly air raids every night, but never saw hand to hand combat. A bomb came down near him once but it was a dud. He contracted malaria [Annotator's Note: disease caused by a parasite that commonly infects a certain type of mosquito which feeds on humans] while on the island and had to take medication that turned his skin yellow. He was getting worse, so after staying in the hospital for some time, he was shipped out to another island. When he felt better, he was shipped backed to New Caledonia. He stayed there until he got enough points [Annotator's Note: a point system was devised based on a number of factors that determined when American servicemen serving overseas could return home] to go home in 1944. While Goss was overseas, his younger brother, Bill, was in high school and wanted to join the Marines. Goss tried to talk him out of it, but he joined anyway. Bill was sent to New Caledonia where he met Goss. They stayed together until Goss went home. Bill continued his war experience on Guam [Annotator’s Note: Guam, Mariana Islands] and Iwo Jima [Annotator’s Note: Iwo Jima, Japan] where he was injured. Goss remarked that he was too young and stupid to fear combat. The reality of war set in after the continuous bombing. Goss thought the island was a “big old stink hole” and it rained all the time. His equipment was always bogged down because of the weather. He was on Guadalcanal when the military started using F4Us [Annotator’s Note: Vought F4U Corsair] and thought they were amazing pieces of equipment that could take on the Japanese. During his day, he did four-hour shifts taking code and then repairing equipment.

Thomas Goss was stationed overseas on Guadalcanal [Annotator’s Note: Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands] with his unit [Annotator’s Note: Marine Air Group 25 (MAG-25)] as a radio operator. He mostly ate K-Rations [Annotator's Note: individual daily combat food ration consisting of three boxed meals] that included powdered eggs. He lived in a six-man tent and slept on a cot. During air raids he jumped in a foxhole. The island was infested with rats. Goss corresponded with his girlfriend using a typewriter. After he had enough points [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 was sent back to the United States in May 1944. He went back to Houston, Texas where he reunited with his girlfriend and they became engaged. After they got married, he continued serving in the military stateside until the war ended. He was discharged in October 1945 as a Technical Sergeant. Goss explained his role as a radio operator and how he used Morse Code [Annotator’s Note: Morse code is a method used in telecommunication to encode text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called dots and dashes, or dits and dahs]. He also monitored Japanese frequencies. Goss met and became acquainted with the actor Tyrone Powell. Powell was a pilot and fought on Okinawa [Annotator’s Note: the Battle of Okinawa, Japan, codenamed Operation Iceberg; 1 April to 22 June 1945]. Powell asked Goss to be his radio man, but Goss had just been married and did not want to volunteer to go overseas again. In the meantime, his unit was preparing for the invasion of mainland of Japan. He served four years in the Marine Corps and later was active in the Marine Corps League until his health faded. [Annotator’s Note: Video break at 0:50:25.000.] During his military training, he learned about the radio and how to fix it. He learned how to read Morse code. He was able to read 24 words a minute. It was understanding the sound of Morse code and not counting the dots and dashes. Goss felt his training prepared him well for overseas duty. After he was discharged from the Marines, he did not go back to college because he was married. He got a full-time position after the war, becoming a regional salesman and then went back to college in 1981 to earn his degree in business. Goss retains animosity towards the Japanese for what they did to the troops in Bataan [Annotator's Note: the Bataan Death March, a forced march of 60,000 to 80,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war carried out by the Imperial Japanese Army in April 1942]. He was happy when the Americans dropped the atomic bombs [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945] in Japan because he was scheduled to go to invade Japan.

Thomas Goss’ most memorable experiences of World War 2 were meeting his wife and the atomic bombs dropping on Japan [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945]. He served in the war because he knew that it was his duty. He loved his country and wanted to fight for it. He believes America is a great country, but fears for his grandchildren’s futures because he believes that they are growing up in a different kind of America. He believes that his service opened more opportunities for him after the war. The military discipline stills live in him today. He has always been proud of his Marine service. Goss believes that if it was not for the troops that fought in World War 2, we would not have the America we have today. He hopes people will find the American spirit again. He believes there should be institutions like the National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana], and we should continue to teach World War 2 to future generations because it serves a great purpose. He hopes it will instill some American spirit in the today’s youth. Goss joined the Marine Corps because he wanted to be in a lead outfit. He learned a lot about life and became more responsible [Annotator’s Note: Video break at 1:12:16.000]. He remarked that many young men were virgins when they went overseas. However, when he was in New Caledonia, there was a prostitution business called, The Pink House.