`Where
are you Benny Goodenberger?
After visiting with some folks at dinner
the other night, I told them about this
situation and then it dawned on me that
perhaps someone out there who reads this
stuff of mine might, just might be able
to help me.
In May of 1942, I had an Uncle by the
name of Mark Davis. Mark was in the
Merchant Marine and was assigned to
serving on oil and gasoline tankers
coming up the east coast from New Jersey
to Texas. In May of 1942, he was on the
SS Virginia coming out of New Orleans
when a German submarine, the U-507
torpedoed the ship.
The Virginia went down and as I recall
about 14 of the crewmen lost their
lives. I’ve never been able to find out
the exact details of what happened that
day, since the records are so old and
scattered. But, in any event my Uncle
must have done something to help the
survivors since as a result of his
actions, a Liberty ship was built and
named after him. My Mother and
Grandmother were the sponsors and when I
was growing up, I remembered the
pictures of them christening the ship in
Houston.
How does this relate to today?
Well, a couple of years ago, my oldest
Aunt, knew I was interested in my
Uncle’s history and she sent me a number
of letters, newspaper clippings and
other items that told about the ship
being sunk. She also sent me the
telegrams from the War Department that
were sent to my Grandmother telling her
that her son had been killed. He was
buried out in Odessa, Texas.
I decided to contact a model ship maker
and had a model made of the Liberty
Ship, Mark A. Davis. During the six
months or so while the model was being
built I went back and reread some of the
letters that Mark had written.
In his last letter to my Grandmother, he
told her he was carrying a load of
highly flammable aviation gasoline and
anything should happen to them, he would
think it very doubtful that he would
survive. Of, course something did happen
to him and he was killed.
In looking at this last letter, I found
a curious notation. He writes…”Mom, I am
worried about this trip…if, by chance
anything should happen to me, there is
this girl, Benny Goodenberger, in …………,
and I’d like you to tell her what
happened to me.”
The problem with this letter is that no
one can tell what town he is telling us
that Benny lived in. It looks like
Denver, but could be Dover. He wasn’t in
Colorado at any time, but he had been in
Maine…is there a Dover, Maine or a Dover
anywhere on the east coast?
Now, what occurred to me is that knowing
the capabilities of the world in 1942, I
am fairly certain my Grandmother made
absolutely no effort to find Miss.
Goodenberger. If I can’t read his
writing 62 years later, I’m sure she
couldn’t either.
So, what do you think we have here?
Well, let’s suppose Miss. Goodenberger
fell in love with my Uncle Mark. He gets
on a ship and sails away, never to
return. The ship was sunk off the coast
of Louisiana during the war. The
newspapers weren’t too eager to
publicize the fact that German
submarines were lurking just off our
coasts. Miss. Goodenberger might never
have know what happened to Mark, since
no one knew how to contact her and tell
her. So, it’s possible she has spent all
of this time wondering why he never came
back.
I went on line to Google and looked at
the number of Goodenbergers listed in
the entire country. There were only
about 20 or so. None of them lived in
any town or city that resembled a Dover
or Denver. I mailed each of them a
letter explaining what I was trying to
do. A couple called me, but sadly had no
information or had ever heard of any
Goodenberger named Benny.
It’s possible that she is still alive
somewhere. Of course by now, she would
have to be in her eighties, but could
certainly be alive. I’m wondering if the
US Census for 1940 would have her listed
and might be available?
Anyway, it’s a long story, but one that
I’d like to resolve. If anyone out there
has any suggestions on what I might do
next or where to look….drop me a line.
We might just solve this thing
yet…..wouldn’t that be nice?
Where are you?
