World War II Honoree
Killed in World War II
Thomas Gordon Goodger
Branch of Service
U.S. Army Air Force
Hometown
Decatur, Texas
Honored By
Sam E. Pennartz
Radio Operator and Aerial Gunner, B-29 Superfortress serial #42-24678 'Kickapoo Lou' tail code: Two Yellow Diagonal Rudder Stripes, 792nd Bomb Squadron, 468th Bombardment Group (VH), 58th Bomb Wing, XX Bomber Command, 20th Air Force at Kalaikunda Airfield near Kharagpur, India in the China-Burma-India (CBI) Theatre of Operations. On 2 March 1945, he flew as the Radio Operator aboard B-29 'Kickapoo Lou'. It was one of several B-29 bombers launched directly from Khargpur, India to attack Japanese occupied warehouse areas of the Singapore Naval Base, Malaya. Japanese 'Zero' fighter opposition was moderate, but the Anti-aircraft artillery flak was described as intense and accurate. About 30 minutes after the bomb-run, his aircraft was struck by anti-aircraft flak with the #3 engine catching fire. After crew bail-out, the right wing exploded with the aircraft crashing over water about 10 miles off-shore, and approximately 15 miles northwest of the Raffles Lighthouse.