As so often happened during WWII, one of our Tate High School students met and married a young aviator that caught her eye in his spiffy white uniform. Goldie Maxine Johnson (1922-1964) married USN Lt. William Henry Stimson who became a pilot of a B-24 Consolidated Patrol Bomber. He enlisted in the Navy’s V-5 program and was sent to flight school on May 31, 1941. He was born in 1919 in Hyde County, South Dakota to Nathaniel George Stimson (1894-1988) and Grace M. Ruskell (1894-1958). He married Goldie in Pensacola, Florida on 6-25-1942. She was the daughter of James Franklin and Allie Johnson who owned a small farm in rural Escambia County, Florida.
Per an article in the Pensacola News Journal dated 12-3-1944 he bombed a Japanese patrol ship from masthead height in spite of intense anti-aircraft fire. He returned five times to strafe the ship before setting it ablaze. Even though his bomber was damaged from the enemy’s fire, he returned to his home base safely. Shortly thereafter, Lt. Stimson was operating with his Squadron VPB-116 (Blue Raiders) off Iwo Jima on October 11, 1944 when he was attacked by Japanese fighters and heavily damaged. Witnesses saw him attacked but did not see him crash. Two bombers were sent up to search for Stimson and his ten crewmen but when they approached his last site they were attacked by seven enemy fighters. They shot down six of the seven enemy planes before the lone enemy survivor fled. Stimson and his crew were listed as lost and never recovered.
Pensacola News Journal 12-3-1944
Lt. William Henry Stimson, USN Squadron
VPB-116 Blue Raiders, KIA off Iwo Jima
Blue Raiders Patch