×

Parkersburg attorney recalls service in World War II

Photo by Brett Dunlap Parkersburg attorney Bob Goldenberg, 94, poses with a picture of the YMS-91 minesweeper ship he was assigned to in the South Pacific during World War II. On Memorial Day, he wants people to remember the sacrifices that were made by many people so they can continue to live in a free nation.

PARKERSBURG — For local attorney Bob Goldenberg, Memorial Day means remembering the price of war and what it has paid for.

The 94-year-old Parkersburg attorney is one of the oldest and longest practicing attorneys in West Virginia, having practiced over 67 years, and still works in The Goldenberg Law Firm in Parkersburg.

He graduated from Parkersburg High School in 1941, attended Washington Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, and went into the U.S. Navy in 1943, entering the officer training program. As an ensign, he was assigned to the YMS-91 minesweeper in the South Pacific.

“For years I never wanted to talk about the war, but recently I felt that I should,” Goldenberg said. “I wanted my family to know that I stood up for them.

“I don’t think we should keep it a secret.”

Eventually becoming a trial attorney, he understood what the laws of this country mean for each citizen.

“We were fighting for the people,” Goldenberg said. “It was for people to be free and live so under our Constitution.”

He saw what resulted in the totalitarian systems brought forth by Hitler and Tojo.

“That is what we fought the war about,” Goldenberg said. “It was the people so they can have their freedoms and their rights.”

He enlisted in 1942 but had trouble being nearsighted. He said he drank carrot juice and had a device that exercised his eye muscles and he eventually qualified for the midshipmen’s school. He was eventually sent to the Yorktown Mine Warfare School in Virginia.

Goldenberg had a chance to do something in an office under Adm. Chester Nimitz, commander in chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, but decided he needed to do something more in battle.

“Everyone was very patriotic,” he said. “We knew the terrible things the Japanese had done and the terrible things Hitler was doing to people over there.

“I appreciated the freedom we had. I was idealistic.”

People had roles to play in the war effort.

“Everyone was a part of the war then,” Goldenberg said. “Everybody joined in the war effort (whether enlisting in the military, working in the war industries or doing other things that helped out with rationing and so on.)

“The Japanese insulted us (by attacking Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941) and what Hitler was doing was so atrocious, everybody was ready to fight.”

He commended the quality of the equipment being made at that time by the war industry.

On the minesweeper, the sailors’ job was to located mines placed in an area close to an island or elsewhere by the enemy and cut them loose from their moorings. Once the mine rose to the surface a sharpshooter would shoot the mine on one of its explosive tips so it would explode.

They used electricity to detonate magnetic mines. This would clear a path for a bigger ship to be able to come in and fire on enemy positions. The boats they were in were made of wood so the magnetic mines would not be attracted to them and were less likely to set off certain mines. The minesweepers travelled in squadrons of 12. The boats had a crew of 36 men and six officers. The boats were 137-feet long.

Many times they were under small arms fire from enemy troops. He talked about a time when they were covered by a squadron of Marine airplanes.

While under attack around Ulithi Island, a friend of his from Parkersburg was on a destroyer there and got hurt. At another island, he talked about seeing many Japanese planes coming in to attack their convoy and having a squadron of American planes come in and keep them away.

“They clashed over our heads,” Goldenberg said. “(The Japanese) never strafed us or bombed us, because the Americans beat them.”

Part of their squadron was sent to southern Okinawa where they swept for mines.

“They knew what we were doing,” Goldenberg said. “We took a lot of fire for that.”

They had air support there while they did their job.

The Battle of Okinawa lasted 82 days where Americans fought the Japanese for control of the island which was needed if America was going to invade Japan at a time before the atomic bombs were used.

“We saw a lot of action,” Goldenberg said. “We saw a lot of people killed. That is not good. War is crazy.

“Most of the people I know who were in battle have seen things that are terrible and inhuman.”

Along with other wars, Goldenberg had seen men come back injured for life.

Goldenberg talked about a number of times he had an “angel” looking out for him when he declined a request from a friend to be able to trade ships. That ship got blown up and the friend who made the request lost his leg.

Another time they were getting close to Japanese-held waters. They were near an island manning radar to warn other ships nearby if they detected enemy aircraft coming in so they could be prepared.

He was the officer of the deck at 3 a.m. and he saw a canoe coming from the island. It was dark and he could not see in it. At the time, enemy troops would swim out to a ship and throw hand grenades up on the ship, especially the small ships like theirs.

They couldn’t use their big guns or that might bring more attention to them. He and some other men went to investigate. They got the canoe to sink it. They were getting on their own boat by a rope ladder. Someone on their ship turned on a searchlight with Goldenberg yelling to turn it off.

“As I climbed back up, we were strafed,” he said. “The bullets went up both sides of me (less than a foot on either side.)

“I knew then I had an angel. I was scared. That was one of the scariest things that ever happened to me.”

Many things happened during the war. As Goldenberg thinks back to those days, he feels Memorial Day is a time when people need to think about the sacrifices made for this country, the people who gave their lives and the people who came back permanently injured and disfigured.

“We need to thank the people who made those sacrifices so we could live in this country as free people,” he said.

***

LOCAL MEMORIAL DAY SERVICES

TODAY

* City Park, Parkersburg, Memorial Day Service, 10 a.m.

* Leavitt Funeral Home of Belpre, Memorial Day Service, 11 a.m.

* Marietta, 8 a.m. Harmar parade and service and 10 a.m. downtown parade and service at Oak Grove Cemetery

* Williamstown parade and service, 9 a.m.

* Beverly-Waterford parade and service, 9 a.m.

* Lowell parade and service, 10:30 a.m.

* Ripley, Jackson County Veterans Memorial Day Service, 11 a.m.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today