Henry Les Goggans, who goes by Les, is a local World War II veteran who is soon to celebrate his 90th birthday on January 9th.
Goggans was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. After graduating high school, he immediately joined the military, serving in the Navy Seebees, which is a unit that works with the United States Marine Corps, he explained.
“I had a cousin who was a paratrooper,” Goggans said. “When he finally had his first jump overseas during the war, he landed in a foxhole where a hand grenade was thrown behind him, and he didn’t make it. It made me very upset and I wanted to get into action immediately.”
Goggans said he then talked to his father about joining the military and at first, he said his father was against it. He and his father then visited a recruiter and shortly after, Goggans signed up. He completed basic training at Camp Endicott in Rhode Island. After basic, he was attached to the 4th Marine Division and then deployed with them to the invasion of Iwo Jima.
“We actually had no idea where we going until we arrived at Iwo Jima,” he explained. “It was Hell on earth there. I was one of the lucky ones who made it through to the port I was supposed to be at. We were on the move constantly, and after moving from the first port, I dove into a foxhole, where I laid there for two days. But my job was a gunney and I followed with a flame thrower, who would clear out the caves, and then I’d go in and start shooting, not knowing if the enemy was in there or not. It was the bloodiest battle and we lost more lives than any other invasion during the war.”
After making it back from that deployment, Goggans began a tour with the 2nd Marine Division in Okinawa, Japan. He served 12 months in Japan, and then got out of the service after his deployment in Okinawa. When he returned to civilian life he said he attended Auburn University and was in the ROTC program, to which he returned to the Marine Corps at Fort Rucker Alabama, and began flying helicopters into the Korean War. He said once he arrived in Korea, he was shot down and had several broken bones, but made it back home and recovered.
“After I recovered, I then was hired on with Lockheed Aircraft, and retired after 47 years with them,” Goggans said. “It was a great time working with Lockheed. I got to travel all over the world selling airplanes; it was a lot of fun. But now I just enjoy life. I’ve been married to my wife Elaine for 37 years and our whole marriage we lived here in Warner Robins. We go to church and stay active within the community. Life is good.”
