Frank Bryan Goettge (sometimes incorrectly spelled "Geottge") was the son of Adam Johannes Goettge and Caroline Rausch. He was born in the Salem Township of Tuscarawas County, and was raised and received his grammar school education in Ohio as well as attending Ohio State University. His great abilities on the football field, even as a freshman, got the sports headlines and was a sure sign of sports greatness to come. But war clouds in Europe were looming and with the United States' entry into World War One, Goettge put his education on hold to serve the country.
Goettge enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on May 22, 1917, an even that would change his life forever. He trained at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, and in August was assigned to the detachment aboard the USS VERMONT. Goettge was promoted to corporal on October 9, 1917, and then quickly to sergeant on December 19. His quick rise through the ranks could have been the result of his college education, his abilities in the service, or a combination of the two. Remarkably, by March 1918, he was rated as aFirst Sergeant, and the senior enlisted man of the Vermont's Marine detachment. He soon was detached from the VERMONT and sent to the Marine Barracks at Quantico, Virginia, for officer training. In July 1918, Goettge was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant of Marines and sent to the staff school at Quantico's Overseas Depot.
Goettge was soon in France as a member of the 6th Separate Battalion at a place named Pontanzen Barracks, a dismal, muddy, overcrowded station near Brest, France. He spent several weeks in additional training in France, during which time he was promoted to First Lieutenant. He reported for duty with Company G, Fifth Marines on November 11 1918 – the day of the armistice.
Goettge and the 5th Marines became part of the Army of Occupation in Germany under the commanded by Captain Lemuel C. Sheperd, Jr., a future Commandant of the Marine Corps. Sports was not out of Goettge's blood and he soon began his sports career with the Marines. He was officially detached to participate in his division's baseball team. He was "injured in the line of duty" while with the team and the injury brought about the end of his European overseas deployment and he was sent back to New York in September, 1919.
In 1920, Goettge joined the First Provisional Brigade in Haiti. He began making a name for himself as a scouting and intelligence officer, as well as a company commander. During this time he also applied for aviation training, but a persistent illness or injury led to his rejection from Pensacola in September, 1921.
Due to his abilities in football, Goettge was recruited by the Marine Corps football team, and soon became known as "The Great Goettge." His renown as a defensive back earned him national acclaim, and several professional teams expressed their interest in possibly signing the Marine to a professional contract. From 1921 to 1924, Goettge served in various staff functions at Quantico while carrying its football team to forty victories and two ties. Sports writer Walter Camp called him "easily the greatest football player of the present day - the nearest approach to Jim Thorpe of all time."
Goettge left Quantico in March, 1927, joining the America Legation in Peking, China, where his duties included those of detachment athletic officer. He was promoted to Captain in March, 1929, and returned to Quantico in September before moving on to Headquarters, USMC in Washington the following January.
Goettge was assigned as the aide-de-camp to Major General Wendell Neville, then the Commandant of the Marine Corps. Goettge served as General Neville's aide until the general's sudden death on July 8, 1930. Goettge then assisted the new commandant, Major General Ben H. Fuller in addition to his posting as aide to the White House, until June 1933.
Captain Goettge returned to sea duty as commander of the Marine detachment of the USS PENNSYLVANIA. In June 1935, he took over the detachment on the USS REINA MERCEDES, a receiving ship at Annapolis where training exercises were conducted (and where unruly Annapolis midshipmen were sent for straightening out). As commander and provost marshal, Goettge enforced discipline aboard the ship. He was promoted to Major in June, 1936, and spent another year aboard the REINA MERCEDES before returning again to Quantico, where he studied at school detachment's senior course. By June 1938, he was second in command of the basic school at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, where he himself had been a student two decades before.
In August, 1940, Goettge received a promotion to Lieutenant Colonel, serving under Colonel Clifton Cates, another future Commandant of the Marine Corps. He would remain in Philadelphia until July, 1941, when he was assigned to the First Marine Division and shipped overseas for combat duty in World War II. Goettge was assigned to the division's Headquarters Company as Chief Intelligence Officer, largely based on his prior experiences in that capacity in Haiti. When the war broke out, he and his section stepped up their efforts to learn more about their Japanese foes.
The First Marine Division deployed to New Zealand for further training in 1942. The primary objective of the First Marine Division was to take the fight to the Japanese. So shortly after their arrival at Wellington, the word was passed that they would soon be departing for the war zone. The Intelligence Section was concentrating on a small island in the Solomon Islands named Guadalcanal - it was chosen as their first target. Shortly before they landed on the island, Goettge was promoted to full Colonel even with his sparse experience at command.
The landing on Guadalcanal went unopposed with the Japanese waiting in the jungle for the coming battle. Goettge and his men set about gathering and analyzing information they gleaned form the area. On August 12th, a Marine patrol from the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, captured a Japanese soldier named Sakado, found foraging in their area. The Marines learned that the Japanese west of the Matanikau River were a disorganized and demoralized group, short on food and in poor health. They could, Sakado thought, be induced to surrender given the proper conditions.
Annoyed by the rush job that intelligence had been forced into in New Zealand, and the now apparent shortcomings in maps and other data were becoming more evident, Gottege thought Sakado was a godsend. Goettge sent First Sergeant Steven Custer to organize a patrol, which Goettge himself would head. They would take an interpreter, a doctor, a good portion of the intelligence section and some riflemen for support, and boat across to a secluded beach where a white flag had reportedly been seen. They would convince the Japanese there to surrender and work their way back to Headquarters the next day, with Goettge presumably at the head of a cluster of happily surrendered Japanese. It would be his first patrol in enemy territory.
The patrol, consisting of 25 men plus Sakado (who was led by a rope around his neck) set out from the camp at Kukum at about 1800 hours – a twelve hour delay caused by numerous personnel changes. The men were traveling light, carrying enough food for one day, a canteen, poncho, and only light weapons.
Due to tidal issues, the delay caused another problem – it was now too late to risk heading for the original landing site. Ignoring the warnings of Lt. Colonel Bill Whaling and the cries of Sakado, who begged them not to land there, the boat turned for shore and landed about 200 yards west of the Matanikau River. The boat ran up on a sandbar, forcing the Marines to jump over the gun-whales and rock it free, creating quite a racket. They waded in to shore and, taking cover behind a line of banyan trees, held a quick council of war.
All the noise they had made and now this pause gave the Japanese soldiers of the 2nd Platoon, 11th CU Security Force under Lt. Soichi Shindo, plenty of time to move into fighting positions and pick their targets. As Goettge led an advance party into the treeline, two shots rang out. Colonel Frank Goettge fell dead with a shot to the head. The seriously wounded 1stSgt Custer dropped beside him. Two Marines who crawled forward to check on the men recovered Goettge's insignia and wristwatch. But before dawn, the patrol had been wiped out aside from three survivors who managed to swim back to friendly lines one at a time. They reported seeing Japanese swords "flashing in the sun" as they fell upon the wounded and dead.
The bodies of the dead were never recovered. There were accounts of knowing where they were and that they had been thrown into fighting trenches and covered up. There were at least three reports over the following weeks that the bodies were partially buried in the sand with limbs sticking out of the grave. One report, made by a Marine years later stated he was on patrol at the scene of the slaughter and personally saw the mutilated bodies of Goettge's patrol to include a decapitated torsos and boots with limbs still attached. But no bodies were ever recovered.
The bodies of Goettge and the rest of his men are lost to this day. Several attempts over the past 65 years have found nothing and it is suspected now that building in the area and the change of the shoreline will result in the patrol's remains never being recovered.
Goettge was enshrined as a member of the Marine Corps Sports Hall of Fame, Class of 2001.
Readers can also see his stateside cenotaph memorial at Find-A-Grave memorial #86192455.
Colonel Frank Bryan Goettge earned the following badges/decorations for his service in the United States Marines Corps during World War I and World War II (not in order of precedence):
- Combat Action Ribbon
- Legion of Merit with Combat "V" for valor device
- Purple Heart Medal
- American Defense Service Medal
- Haitian Campaign Medal
- Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal
- Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations Campaign Medal with one bronze battle/campaign star
- China Service Medal (not verified)
- World War One Victory Medal with "France" Bar
- World War One Army of Occupation Medal
- World War II Victory Medal
- Navy and Marine Corps Presidential Unit Citation Ribbon
**NOTE** - A portion of this bio is based on information from the website missingmarines.com. They have done a fantastic job of researching approximately 3000 US Marines whose bodies were lost in the war. This writer wholeheartedly recommends their site for researchers or for look-up for families of the missing. - Rick Lawrence, MSgt., USMC/USAFR {RET})
Goettge enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on May 22, 1917, an even that would change his life forever. He trained at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, and in August was assigned to the detachment aboard the USS VERMONT. Goettge was promoted to corporal on October 9, 1917, and then quickly to sergeant on December 19. His quick rise through the ranks could have been the result of his college education, his abilities in the service, or a combination of the two. Remarkably, by March 1918, he was rated as aFirst Sergeant, and the senior enlisted man of the Vermont's Marine detachment. He soon was detached from the VERMONT and sent to the Marine Barracks at Quantico, Virginia, for officer training. In July 1918, Goettge was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant of Marines and sent to the staff school at Quantico's Overseas Depot.
Goettge was soon in France as a member of the 6th Separate Battalion at a place named Pontanzen Barracks, a dismal, muddy, overcrowded station near Brest, France. He spent several weeks in additional training in France, during which time he was promoted to First Lieutenant. He reported for duty with Company G, Fifth Marines on November 11 1918 – the day of the armistice.
Goettge and the 5th Marines became part of the Army of Occupation in Germany under the commanded by Captain Lemuel C. Sheperd, Jr., a future Commandant of the Marine Corps. Sports was not out of Goettge's blood and he soon began his sports career with the Marines. He was officially detached to participate in his division's baseball team. He was "injured in the line of duty" while with the team and the injury brought about the end of his European overseas deployment and he was sent back to New York in September, 1919.
In 1920, Goettge joined the First Provisional Brigade in Haiti. He began making a name for himself as a scouting and intelligence officer, as well as a company commander. During this time he also applied for aviation training, but a persistent illness or injury led to his rejection from Pensacola in September, 1921.
Due to his abilities in football, Goettge was recruited by the Marine Corps football team, and soon became known as "The Great Goettge." His renown as a defensive back earned him national acclaim, and several professional teams expressed their interest in possibly signing the Marine to a professional contract. From 1921 to 1924, Goettge served in various staff functions at Quantico while carrying its football team to forty victories and two ties. Sports writer Walter Camp called him "easily the greatest football player of the present day - the nearest approach to Jim Thorpe of all time."
Goettge left Quantico in March, 1927, joining the America Legation in Peking, China, where his duties included those of detachment athletic officer. He was promoted to Captain in March, 1929, and returned to Quantico in September before moving on to Headquarters, USMC in Washington the following January.
Goettge was assigned as the aide-de-camp to Major General Wendell Neville, then the Commandant of the Marine Corps. Goettge served as General Neville's aide until the general's sudden death on July 8, 1930. Goettge then assisted the new commandant, Major General Ben H. Fuller in addition to his posting as aide to the White House, until June 1933.
Captain Goettge returned to sea duty as commander of the Marine detachment of the USS PENNSYLVANIA. In June 1935, he took over the detachment on the USS REINA MERCEDES, a receiving ship at Annapolis where training exercises were conducted (and where unruly Annapolis midshipmen were sent for straightening out). As commander and provost marshal, Goettge enforced discipline aboard the ship. He was promoted to Major in June, 1936, and spent another year aboard the REINA MERCEDES before returning again to Quantico, where he studied at school detachment's senior course. By June 1938, he was second in command of the basic school at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, where he himself had been a student two decades before.
In August, 1940, Goettge received a promotion to Lieutenant Colonel, serving under Colonel Clifton Cates, another future Commandant of the Marine Corps. He would remain in Philadelphia until July, 1941, when he was assigned to the First Marine Division and shipped overseas for combat duty in World War II. Goettge was assigned to the division's Headquarters Company as Chief Intelligence Officer, largely based on his prior experiences in that capacity in Haiti. When the war broke out, he and his section stepped up their efforts to learn more about their Japanese foes.
The First Marine Division deployed to New Zealand for further training in 1942. The primary objective of the First Marine Division was to take the fight to the Japanese. So shortly after their arrival at Wellington, the word was passed that they would soon be departing for the war zone. The Intelligence Section was concentrating on a small island in the Solomon Islands named Guadalcanal - it was chosen as their first target. Shortly before they landed on the island, Goettge was promoted to full Colonel even with his sparse experience at command.
The landing on Guadalcanal went unopposed with the Japanese waiting in the jungle for the coming battle. Goettge and his men set about gathering and analyzing information they gleaned form the area. On August 12th, a Marine patrol from the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, captured a Japanese soldier named Sakado, found foraging in their area. The Marines learned that the Japanese west of the Matanikau River were a disorganized and demoralized group, short on food and in poor health. They could, Sakado thought, be induced to surrender given the proper conditions.
Annoyed by the rush job that intelligence had been forced into in New Zealand, and the now apparent shortcomings in maps and other data were becoming more evident, Gottege thought Sakado was a godsend. Goettge sent First Sergeant Steven Custer to organize a patrol, which Goettge himself would head. They would take an interpreter, a doctor, a good portion of the intelligence section and some riflemen for support, and boat across to a secluded beach where a white flag had reportedly been seen. They would convince the Japanese there to surrender and work their way back to Headquarters the next day, with Goettge presumably at the head of a cluster of happily surrendered Japanese. It would be his first patrol in enemy territory.
The patrol, consisting of 25 men plus Sakado (who was led by a rope around his neck) set out from the camp at Kukum at about 1800 hours – a twelve hour delay caused by numerous personnel changes. The men were traveling light, carrying enough food for one day, a canteen, poncho, and only light weapons.
Due to tidal issues, the delay caused another problem – it was now too late to risk heading for the original landing site. Ignoring the warnings of Lt. Colonel Bill Whaling and the cries of Sakado, who begged them not to land there, the boat turned for shore and landed about 200 yards west of the Matanikau River. The boat ran up on a sandbar, forcing the Marines to jump over the gun-whales and rock it free, creating quite a racket. They waded in to shore and, taking cover behind a line of banyan trees, held a quick council of war.
All the noise they had made and now this pause gave the Japanese soldiers of the 2nd Platoon, 11th CU Security Force under Lt. Soichi Shindo, plenty of time to move into fighting positions and pick their targets. As Goettge led an advance party into the treeline, two shots rang out. Colonel Frank Goettge fell dead with a shot to the head. The seriously wounded 1stSgt Custer dropped beside him. Two Marines who crawled forward to check on the men recovered Goettge's insignia and wristwatch. But before dawn, the patrol had been wiped out aside from three survivors who managed to swim back to friendly lines one at a time. They reported seeing Japanese swords "flashing in the sun" as they fell upon the wounded and dead.
The bodies of the dead were never recovered. There were accounts of knowing where they were and that they had been thrown into fighting trenches and covered up. There were at least three reports over the following weeks that the bodies were partially buried in the sand with limbs sticking out of the grave. One report, made by a Marine years later stated he was on patrol at the scene of the slaughter and personally saw the mutilated bodies of Goettge's patrol to include a decapitated torsos and boots with limbs still attached. But no bodies were ever recovered.
The bodies of Goettge and the rest of his men are lost to this day. Several attempts over the past 65 years have found nothing and it is suspected now that building in the area and the change of the shoreline will result in the patrol's remains never being recovered.
Goettge was enshrined as a member of the Marine Corps Sports Hall of Fame, Class of 2001.
Readers can also see his stateside cenotaph memorial at Find-A-Grave memorial #86192455.
Colonel Frank Bryan Goettge earned the following badges/decorations for his service in the United States Marines Corps during World War I and World War II (not in order of precedence):
- Combat Action Ribbon
- Legion of Merit with Combat "V" for valor device
- Purple Heart Medal
- American Defense Service Medal
- Haitian Campaign Medal
- Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal
- Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations Campaign Medal with one bronze battle/campaign star
- China Service Medal (not verified)
- World War One Victory Medal with "France" Bar
- World War One Army of Occupation Medal
- World War II Victory Medal
- Navy and Marine Corps Presidential Unit Citation Ribbon
**NOTE** - A portion of this bio is based on information from the website missingmarines.com. They have done a fantastic job of researching approximately 3000 US Marines whose bodies were lost in the war. This writer wholeheartedly recommends their site for researchers or for look-up for families of the missing. - Rick Lawrence, MSgt., USMC/USAFR {RET})
Frank Bryan Goettge (sometimes incorrectly spelled "Geottge") was the son of Adam Johannes Goettge and Caroline Rausch. He was born in the Salem Township of Tuscarawas County, and was raised and received his grammar school education in Ohio as well as attending Ohio State University. His great abilities on the football field, even as a freshman, got the sports headlines and was a sure sign of sports greatness to come. But war clouds in Europe were looming and with the United States' entry into World War One, Goettge put his education on hold to serve the country.
Goettge enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on May 22, 1917, an even that would change his life forever. He trained at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, and in August was assigned to the detachment aboard the USS VERMONT. Goettge was promoted to corporal on October 9, 1917, and then quickly to sergeant on December 19. His quick rise through the ranks could have been the result of his college education, his abilities in the service, or a combination of the two. Remarkably, by March 1918, he was rated as aFirst Sergeant, and the senior enlisted man of the Vermont's Marine detachment. He soon was detached from the VERMONT and sent to the Marine Barracks at Quantico, Virginia, for officer training. In July 1918, Goettge was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant of Marines and sent to the staff school at Quantico's Overseas Depot.
Goettge was soon in France as a member of the 6th Separate Battalion at a place named Pontanzen Barracks, a dismal, muddy, overcrowded station near Brest, France. He spent several weeks in additional training in France, during which time he was promoted to First Lieutenant. He reported for duty with Company G, Fifth Marines on November 11 1918 – the day of the armistice.
Goettge and the 5th Marines became part of the Army of Occupation in Germany under the commanded by Captain Lemuel C. Sheperd, Jr., a future Commandant of the Marine Corps. Sports was not out of Goettge's blood and he soon began his sports career with the Marines. He was officially detached to participate in his division's baseball team. He was "injured in the line of duty" while with the team and the injury brought about the end of his European overseas deployment and he was sent back to New York in September, 1919.
In 1920, Goettge joined the First Provisional Brigade in Haiti. He began making a name for himself as a scouting and intelligence officer, as well as a company commander. During this time he also applied for aviation training, but a persistent illness or injury led to his rejection from Pensacola in September, 1921.
Due to his abilities in football, Goettge was recruited by the Marine Corps football team, and soon became known as "The Great Goettge." His renown as a defensive back earned him national acclaim, and several professional teams expressed their interest in possibly signing the Marine to a professional contract. From 1921 to 1924, Goettge served in various staff functions at Quantico while carrying its football team to forty victories and two ties. Sports writer Walter Camp called him "easily the greatest football player of the present day - the nearest approach to Jim Thorpe of all time."
Goettge left Quantico in March, 1927, joining the America Legation in Peking, China, where his duties included those of detachment athletic officer. He was promoted to Captain in March, 1929, and returned to Quantico in September before moving on to Headquarters, USMC in Washington the following January.
Goettge was assigned as the aide-de-camp to Major General Wendell Neville, then the Commandant of the Marine Corps. Goettge served as General Neville's aide until the general's sudden death on July 8, 1930. Goettge then assisted the new commandant, Major General Ben H. Fuller in addition to his posting as aide to the White House, until June 1933.
Captain Goettge returned to sea duty as commander of the Marine detachment of the USS PENNSYLVANIA. In June 1935, he took over the detachment on the USS REINA MERCEDES, a receiving ship at Annapolis where training exercises were conducted (and where unruly Annapolis midshipmen were sent for straightening out). As commander and provost marshal, Goettge enforced discipline aboard the ship. He was promoted to Major in June, 1936, and spent another year aboard the REINA MERCEDES before returning again to Quantico, where he studied at school detachment's senior course. By June 1938, he was second in command of the basic school at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, where he himself had been a student two decades before.
In August, 1940, Goettge received a promotion to Lieutenant Colonel, serving under Colonel Clifton Cates, another future Commandant of the Marine Corps. He would remain in Philadelphia until July, 1941, when he was assigned to the First Marine Division and shipped overseas for combat duty in World War II. Goettge was assigned to the division's Headquarters Company as Chief Intelligence Officer, largely based on his prior experiences in that capacity in Haiti. When the war broke out, he and his section stepped up their efforts to learn more about their Japanese foes.
The First Marine Division deployed to New Zealand for further training in 1942. The primary objective of the First Marine Division was to take the fight to the Japanese. So shortly after their arrival at Wellington, the word was passed that they would soon be departing for the war zone. The Intelligence Section was concentrating on a small island in the Solomon Islands named Guadalcanal - it was chosen as their first target. Shortly before they landed on the island, Goettge was promoted to full Colonel even with his sparse experience at command.
The landing on Guadalcanal went unopposed with the Japanese waiting in the jungle for the coming battle. Goettge and his men set about gathering and analyzing information they gleaned form the area. On August 12th, a Marine patrol from the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, captured a Japanese soldier named Sakado, found foraging in their area. The Marines learned that the Japanese west of the Matanikau River were a disorganized and demoralized group, short on food and in poor health. They could, Sakado thought, be induced to surrender given the proper conditions.
Annoyed by the rush job that intelligence had been forced into in New Zealand, and the now apparent shortcomings in maps and other data were becoming more evident, Gottege thought Sakado was a godsend. Goettge sent First Sergeant Steven Custer to organize a patrol, which Goettge himself would head. They would take an interpreter, a doctor, a good portion of the intelligence section and some riflemen for support, and boat across to a secluded beach where a white flag had reportedly been seen. They would convince the Japanese there to surrender and work their way back to Headquarters the next day, with Goettge presumably at the head of a cluster of happily surrendered Japanese. It would be his first patrol in enemy territory.
The patrol, consisting of 25 men plus Sakado (who was led by a rope around his neck) set out from the camp at Kukum at about 1800 hours – a twelve hour delay caused by numerous personnel changes. The men were traveling light, carrying enough food for one day, a canteen, poncho, and only light weapons.
Due to tidal issues, the delay caused another problem – it was now too late to risk heading for the original landing site. Ignoring the warnings of Lt. Colonel Bill Whaling and the cries of Sakado, who begged them not to land there, the boat turned for shore and landed about 200 yards west of the Matanikau River. The boat ran up on a sandbar, forcing the Marines to jump over the gun-whales and rock it free, creating quite a racket. They waded in to shore and, taking cover behind a line of banyan trees, held a quick council of war.
All the noise they had made and now this pause gave the Japanese soldiers of the 2nd Platoon, 11th CU Security Force under Lt. Soichi Shindo, plenty of time to move into fighting positions and pick their targets. As Goettge led an advance party into the treeline, two shots rang out. Colonel Frank Goettge fell dead with a shot to the head. The seriously wounded 1stSgt Custer dropped beside him. Two Marines who crawled forward to check on the men recovered Goettge's insignia and wristwatch. But before dawn, the patrol had been wiped out aside from three survivors who managed to swim back to friendly lines one at a time. They reported seeing Japanese swords "flashing in the sun" as they fell upon the wounded and dead.
The bodies of the dead were never recovered. There were accounts of knowing where they were and that they had been thrown into fighting trenches and covered up. There were at least three reports over the following weeks that the bodies were partially buried in the sand with limbs sticking out of the grave. One report, made by a Marine years later stated he was on patrol at the scene of the slaughter and personally saw the mutilated bodies of Goettge's patrol to include a decapitated torsos and boots with limbs still attached. But no bodies were ever recovered.
The bodies of Goettge and the rest of his men are lost to this day. Several attempts over the past 65 years have found nothing and it is suspected now that building in the area and the change of the shoreline will result in the patrol's remains never being recovered.
Goettge was enshrined as a member of the Marine Corps Sports Hall of Fame, Class of 2001.
Readers can also see his stateside cenotaph memorial at Find-A-Grave memorial #86192455.
Colonel Frank Bryan Goettge earned the following badges/decorations for his service in the United States Marines Corps during World War I and World War II (not in order of precedence):
- Combat Action Ribbon
- Legion of Merit with Combat "V" for valor device
- Purple Heart Medal
- American Defense Service Medal
- Haitian Campaign Medal
- Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal
- Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations Campaign Medal with one bronze battle/campaign star
- China Service Medal (not verified)
- World War One Victory Medal with "France" Bar
- World War One Army of Occupation Medal
- World War II Victory Medal
- Navy and Marine Corps Presidential Unit Citation Ribbon
**NOTE** - A portion of this bio is based on information from the website missingmarines.com. They have done a fantastic job of researching approximately 3000 US Marines whose bodies were lost in the war. This writer wholeheartedly recommends their site for researchers or for look-up for families of the missing. - Rick Lawrence, MSgt., USMC/USAFR {RET})
Goettge enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on May 22, 1917, an even that would change his life forever. He trained at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, and in August was assigned to the detachment aboard the USS VERMONT. Goettge was promoted to corporal on October 9, 1917, and then quickly to sergeant on December 19. His quick rise through the ranks could have been the result of his college education, his abilities in the service, or a combination of the two. Remarkably, by March 1918, he was rated as aFirst Sergeant, and the senior enlisted man of the Vermont's Marine detachment. He soon was detached from the VERMONT and sent to the Marine Barracks at Quantico, Virginia, for officer training. In July 1918, Goettge was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant of Marines and sent to the staff school at Quantico's Overseas Depot.
Goettge was soon in France as a member of the 6th Separate Battalion at a place named Pontanzen Barracks, a dismal, muddy, overcrowded station near Brest, France. He spent several weeks in additional training in France, during which time he was promoted to First Lieutenant. He reported for duty with Company G, Fifth Marines on November 11 1918 – the day of the armistice.
Goettge and the 5th Marines became part of the Army of Occupation in Germany under the commanded by Captain Lemuel C. Sheperd, Jr., a future Commandant of the Marine Corps. Sports was not out of Goettge's blood and he soon began his sports career with the Marines. He was officially detached to participate in his division's baseball team. He was "injured in the line of duty" while with the team and the injury brought about the end of his European overseas deployment and he was sent back to New York in September, 1919.
In 1920, Goettge joined the First Provisional Brigade in Haiti. He began making a name for himself as a scouting and intelligence officer, as well as a company commander. During this time he also applied for aviation training, but a persistent illness or injury led to his rejection from Pensacola in September, 1921.
Due to his abilities in football, Goettge was recruited by the Marine Corps football team, and soon became known as "The Great Goettge." His renown as a defensive back earned him national acclaim, and several professional teams expressed their interest in possibly signing the Marine to a professional contract. From 1921 to 1924, Goettge served in various staff functions at Quantico while carrying its football team to forty victories and two ties. Sports writer Walter Camp called him "easily the greatest football player of the present day - the nearest approach to Jim Thorpe of all time."
Goettge left Quantico in March, 1927, joining the America Legation in Peking, China, where his duties included those of detachment athletic officer. He was promoted to Captain in March, 1929, and returned to Quantico in September before moving on to Headquarters, USMC in Washington the following January.
Goettge was assigned as the aide-de-camp to Major General Wendell Neville, then the Commandant of the Marine Corps. Goettge served as General Neville's aide until the general's sudden death on July 8, 1930. Goettge then assisted the new commandant, Major General Ben H. Fuller in addition to his posting as aide to the White House, until June 1933.
Captain Goettge returned to sea duty as commander of the Marine detachment of the USS PENNSYLVANIA. In June 1935, he took over the detachment on the USS REINA MERCEDES, a receiving ship at Annapolis where training exercises were conducted (and where unruly Annapolis midshipmen were sent for straightening out). As commander and provost marshal, Goettge enforced discipline aboard the ship. He was promoted to Major in June, 1936, and spent another year aboard the REINA MERCEDES before returning again to Quantico, where he studied at school detachment's senior course. By June 1938, he was second in command of the basic school at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, where he himself had been a student two decades before.
In August, 1940, Goettge received a promotion to Lieutenant Colonel, serving under Colonel Clifton Cates, another future Commandant of the Marine Corps. He would remain in Philadelphia until July, 1941, when he was assigned to the First Marine Division and shipped overseas for combat duty in World War II. Goettge was assigned to the division's Headquarters Company as Chief Intelligence Officer, largely based on his prior experiences in that capacity in Haiti. When the war broke out, he and his section stepped up their efforts to learn more about their Japanese foes.
The First Marine Division deployed to New Zealand for further training in 1942. The primary objective of the First Marine Division was to take the fight to the Japanese. So shortly after their arrival at Wellington, the word was passed that they would soon be departing for the war zone. The Intelligence Section was concentrating on a small island in the Solomon Islands named Guadalcanal - it was chosen as their first target. Shortly before they landed on the island, Goettge was promoted to full Colonel even with his sparse experience at command.
The landing on Guadalcanal went unopposed with the Japanese waiting in the jungle for the coming battle. Goettge and his men set about gathering and analyzing information they gleaned form the area. On August 12th, a Marine patrol from the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, captured a Japanese soldier named Sakado, found foraging in their area. The Marines learned that the Japanese west of the Matanikau River were a disorganized and demoralized group, short on food and in poor health. They could, Sakado thought, be induced to surrender given the proper conditions.
Annoyed by the rush job that intelligence had been forced into in New Zealand, and the now apparent shortcomings in maps and other data were becoming more evident, Gottege thought Sakado was a godsend. Goettge sent First Sergeant Steven Custer to organize a patrol, which Goettge himself would head. They would take an interpreter, a doctor, a good portion of the intelligence section and some riflemen for support, and boat across to a secluded beach where a white flag had reportedly been seen. They would convince the Japanese there to surrender and work their way back to Headquarters the next day, with Goettge presumably at the head of a cluster of happily surrendered Japanese. It would be his first patrol in enemy territory.
The patrol, consisting of 25 men plus Sakado (who was led by a rope around his neck) set out from the camp at Kukum at about 1800 hours – a twelve hour delay caused by numerous personnel changes. The men were traveling light, carrying enough food for one day, a canteen, poncho, and only light weapons.
Due to tidal issues, the delay caused another problem – it was now too late to risk heading for the original landing site. Ignoring the warnings of Lt. Colonel Bill Whaling and the cries of Sakado, who begged them not to land there, the boat turned for shore and landed about 200 yards west of the Matanikau River. The boat ran up on a sandbar, forcing the Marines to jump over the gun-whales and rock it free, creating quite a racket. They waded in to shore and, taking cover behind a line of banyan trees, held a quick council of war.
All the noise they had made and now this pause gave the Japanese soldiers of the 2nd Platoon, 11th CU Security Force under Lt. Soichi Shindo, plenty of time to move into fighting positions and pick their targets. As Goettge led an advance party into the treeline, two shots rang out. Colonel Frank Goettge fell dead with a shot to the head. The seriously wounded 1stSgt Custer dropped beside him. Two Marines who crawled forward to check on the men recovered Goettge's insignia and wristwatch. But before dawn, the patrol had been wiped out aside from three survivors who managed to swim back to friendly lines one at a time. They reported seeing Japanese swords "flashing in the sun" as they fell upon the wounded and dead.
The bodies of the dead were never recovered. There were accounts of knowing where they were and that they had been thrown into fighting trenches and covered up. There were at least three reports over the following weeks that the bodies were partially buried in the sand with limbs sticking out of the grave. One report, made by a Marine years later stated he was on patrol at the scene of the slaughter and personally saw the mutilated bodies of Goettge's patrol to include a decapitated torsos and boots with limbs still attached. But no bodies were ever recovered.
The bodies of Goettge and the rest of his men are lost to this day. Several attempts over the past 65 years have found nothing and it is suspected now that building in the area and the change of the shoreline will result in the patrol's remains never being recovered.
Goettge was enshrined as a member of the Marine Corps Sports Hall of Fame, Class of 2001.
Readers can also see his stateside cenotaph memorial at Find-A-Grave memorial #86192455.
Colonel Frank Bryan Goettge earned the following badges/decorations for his service in the United States Marines Corps during World War I and World War II (not in order of precedence):
- Combat Action Ribbon
- Legion of Merit with Combat "V" for valor device
- Purple Heart Medal
- American Defense Service Medal
- Haitian Campaign Medal
- Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal
- Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations Campaign Medal with one bronze battle/campaign star
- China Service Medal (not verified)
- World War One Victory Medal with "France" Bar
- World War One Army of Occupation Medal
- World War II Victory Medal
- Navy and Marine Corps Presidential Unit Citation Ribbon
**NOTE** - A portion of this bio is based on information from the website missingmarines.com. They have done a fantastic job of researching approximately 3000 US Marines whose bodies were lost in the war. This writer wholeheartedly recommends their site for researchers or for look-up for families of the missing. - Rick Lawrence, MSgt., USMC/USAFR {RET})
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