With the World at War, Anthony H. Goebel (age 24) felt compelled to enlist in military service and reluctantly left his young, wartime bride to join the US Army Air Corps in 1942. After qualifying to become a pilot, Flight Cadet Goebel completed two years in Officer Candidate School/Flight training where he competed with the 'best of the best' and graduated (from Jackson Mississippi) to earn the highest possible (and most coveted) assignment – single-engine fighter combat.



Tony was then assigned to the 487th Fighter Squadron ("Meyer's Maulers") of the 352nd Fighter Group (which Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering contemptuously called those “Blue Nosed Bastards of Bodney”) within the 8th Air Force of the United States Army Air Corps.



He was immediately deployed overseas, steaming across the 'pond' (Atlantic Ocean) on the RMS Queen Mary (converted to a troopship), Anthony was first based at the airfield in Bodney England where he became good friends with William "Bill" T. Whisner Jr. and shared private Officers' Quarters re-purposed from an unused storage room.



He flew 36 combat missions in his North American P-51D Mustang: "Miss GENNY CLOUD" - named after his first wife Miss Genevieve Cloud. Having survived many deadly engagements with enemy aircraft in large dogfights (often called "fur balls"), the sum of his partial kills (credit shared with other pilots) totaled: two and a half Me 109's (Messerschmitt Bf 109) and one Me 262 (German jet).



Lt. A. H. Goebel flew numerous escort missions protecting bombers that attacked enemy factories, V-weapon sites, submarine pens, and other strategic locations on the Continent.



He also flew counter-air patrols, and on many occasions strafed and dive-bombed airfields, locomotives, vehicles, troops, gun positions, and various other targets.



After the Germans launched a counteroffensive in the Ardennes in Dec 1944, the group's planes and pilots were sent to Asch Belgium and placed under the control of the Ninth AF for operations in the Battle of the Bulge (Dec 1944-Jan 1945).



During this time, while “Miss GENNY CLOUD” was under repair, military records document that Tony scored (2) 1/2 kills of Me 109’s while flying Bill Whisner's "Moonbeam McSwine" 44-14237 on December 27th, 1944.



The superior capabilities of the P-51D (in both range and performance in aerial combat) decimated the German offensive. In desperation, Germany launched Operation Bodenplatte (Baseplate) on 1 January 1945, as an attempt by the Luftwaffe to cripple Allied air forces. The goal of Bodenplatte was to gain air superiority during the stagnant stage of the Battle of the Bulge so that the German Army and Waffen-SS forces could resume their advance.



During that battle, action by the detachment earned for the group the Croix de Guerre with Palm: just as 12 of the detachment's planes were awaiting permission for take-off on an area patrol, the Aerodrome was attacked by approximately 50 German fighters; in the aerial battle that followed (now referred to as the "Legend of Y-29"), the 352nd shot down almost half the enemy planes without losing any of its own.



AWARDS: Distinguished Unit Citation with 1 Oak Leaf Cluster, Air Medal (3 OLC), Croix de Guerre, EAME Medal (4 Bronze Stars), WWII Victory Medal.





Post war: Anthony received a Presidential Citation and an Honorable Discharge - and finished his military career in the Reserves where he was offered a promotion to Captain upon re-enlisting (which he respectfully declined). After separation, he continued to fly as a private/commercial pilot.



He married his 2nd wife, Marianne, and had 3 children. He joined the Experimental Aircraft Association and flew aerobatic exhibitions of a home-built Benson Gyrocopter for over 10 years performing flight demonstrations at the Cleveland National Air Show, Oshkosh Wisconsin, and the Sun & Fun Fly-in in Florida.



As a master machinist, retired from Westinghouse after 25+ years of service in Cleveland Ohio, he has built/rebuilt a multitude of aircraft over the decades including: Taylor Craft, Stolp V-Star, Kit Fox, Lazair, etc...



Upon retiring to NC (for the warmer climate), Tony trained new pilots as an instructor of the Lazair Ultralight aircraft throughout his early nineties.



Until his death on July 14th, 2018 (at 101 years of age) Anthony remained active in VFW Post 9010 and participated in numerous Veterans' events to Honor his fallen comrades by sharing his personal experience as a P-51D fighter pilot (he was always grateful for his opportunity to serve at the time when it was needed most).