Khobar Towers--a Reluctant Hero

It was twenty five years ago, on 25 June 1996, that Islamic extremists set off a truck bomb at the US Air Force housing complex in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. My wife’s brother, then USAF Captain* Steven Goff, MD was present at the complex, known as Khobar Towers, and injured by the bombing. What began for Steve Goff as a typical, routine day in the sweltering heat, with temperatures over 100 degrees (F) on that early summer day in the Arabian desert near Dhahran, would end as a nightmare. The US Air Force was based in Dhahran, with an assigned mission, with other nations, of supervising the no-fly zone over much of Iraq.  In a sense they were protecting the minority Kurd population. My brother-in-law, Captain Steven Goff, MD was as a flight surgeon, or one of four doctors, to handle the care of the men and women who made up the contingent of over 2,300 Air Force personnel at Khobar Towers, near the Dhahran air base. The number of persons at the complex would rival that of mid-sized Wisconsin villages. His reluctant claim to fame was his having treated patients while he himself was seriously injured.

Steve Goff, MD, USA
Source: Family archives

The Khobar Towers bombing of 1996, in which 19 US military personnel died, is often not thought of today. When it is viewed, it is viewed in light of the other terrorist attacks that took place before and after. When we think of terrorist attacks today perhaps the first to mind are the four hijacked planes on 11 September 2001, and the horror that resulted. That bloody day, however, was presaged by other attacks, the Khobar Towers attack being one. On the date of the Khobar Towers bombing the US blamed Iran and Hezbollah, a terrorist organization. Louis Freeh, then FBI Director under President Clinton would, after investigation, place blame on Iran. In June 2001 the evidence of the involvement of Iran seemed incontrovertible, to the point that news outlets, such as CBS, were wondering why the US was not bombing Iran. Years later, others, such as Clinton's Defense Secretary William Perry would come to believe (in 2007) that Al Qaeda was behind the attack. However, in 2006 a US court found Iran and Hezbollah guilty of orchestrating the bombing, which confirmed the first reports of the US government on  responsibility for the attack.  Recently, Bruce Riedel, then an Assistant SecretRy of Defense, wrote that Iran, Hezbollah and one other group planned the bombing two years earlier.  He also notes that Saudi Arabia kept information from the US to avoid US retaliation against Iran.  For those injured in the attack, family and friends that lost a loved one or had a loved one injured in this terrorist attack, the main effect was that the attack occurred and would change the trajectory of lives. Lt Col Steven Goff would leave the bonds of this earth in September of 2006. Even after his last breath his body bore glass fragments of that  summer day in the Saudi desert. Every limited shoulder movement, and chest pain, would remind him of that Tuesday evening in Dhahran. The events of that night and early the next day would be ingrained in his body and mind.

Goff Receiving Airman's Medal from 
Air Force Chief of Staff, Gen Fogelman, 3 July 1996
Source:  US Air Force

Dr Steve Goff was born in October 1957, the second of three children to Jerry and Shirley (Schleis) Goff. A gifted child who played the French Horn, and cared for their dog when she severely injured its leg,which presaged a career in medicine.  He graduated from high school a semester early and joined the US Marine Corps where he served four years, and was discharged in March 1980. After his service in the Marine Corps he would attend college at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire where he graduated with a degree in environmental and public health. He then attended medical school at the University of Wisconsin from which he was graduated in 1990. He served his residency in family practice medicine in Wausau, and while there, living in Schofield, WI, he signed up to join the Air Force, where he would become a flight surgeon. Odd how life is. Shortly after his signing up for the Air Force, Jerry, his dad, and I were golfing at Yahara Hills golf course and were teamed up with another pair to have a foursome; the pair with which were teamed were Air Force recruiters one of whom worked with Steve in his joining the USAF.

Purple Heart Certificate
Source: Family archives

 
Captain Goff, MD was part of the medical attachment accompanying the 4404th Provisional Fighter Wing which had responsibility for keeping watch on varied no-fly zones established in the Middle East.  The no-fly zones were established to protect vulnerable minority populations, such as the Kurds, from attack. According to Perry Jamieson, “The 4404th Wing had more than 5,000 personnel assigned, at eleven locations in four countries.(p. 2l) The largest concentration of them were the 2,300 airmen stationed in the American sector of the KhobarTowers compound, just east of Dhahran Air Base.” (p. 19) No relatives of these active-duty members of the US or any other service members were allowed to accompany the Air Force service member to Saudi Arabia. For the Dhahran airman, the tours of duty were 90 days.

 

Airman's Medal Certificate
Source: Family archives

Perhaps a contributing factor to the bombing was the quick transition of personnel at the varied air bases. Jamieson goes on to say that “The Air Force manned the 4404th Provisional Wing largely by rotating officers and airmen through southwest Asia on temporary-duty assignments. Although some of the units of some aircraft-including HC-130s, C-130s, A-10s, and tankers served in the theater of operations for 365 days.” (pp 18-19) At Dhahran it was different. All but 19 of the 2300 individuals who served at Dhahran served on a 90 day rotational basis. This policy led to about a 10% turnover of personnel each week, as more than 200 airmen and officers turned over every week. Army personnel in the same theater rotated personnel every six months. (Jamieson, pp 18-20) This fairly quick turnover may have led to lack of operational and tactical awareness.  However, the US had concerns, and required groups of armed forces personnel being in groups of 3, but no more than 5 persons, to avoid kidnapping, or other potential terrorist attacks (Sherbo). The Saudi government liked the idea of the quick turnover due to the sensitivity of foreign bases on its soil. As usual, political considerations won out.

Airman's Medal Citation
Source: Family archives

Political considerations of short term deployments may have helped influence the bombers. The bombers knew what they were doing. A group of bombers drove up and parked a truck laden with 5,000 lbs of explosives (equivalent to over 23,000 lbs of TNT). The drivers of the truck had other vehicles which drove up to meet them where the truck was parked (not far from the US Air Force housing complex, to pick up the drivers and then speed off. About 9:50 pm a lookout noticed a truck and cars starting to move toward the complex, and he started notification and evacuation procedures. About 10:00 pm, or shortly thereafter, the truck bomb exploded. The lookout's action saved many lives and he would be awarded the Airman’s Medal for his actions that evening. The explosion could be heard over 20 miles away, and left a crater 85 feet wide and over 35 feet deep. The whole side of the building near where the truck was parked was essentially blown off, and is now an iconic symbol of the terrorist blast. 

Building near blast site
Source: Family archives

As the blast occurred Steve Goff was in his dwelling unit. He had just gotten back from a work out at the gym, and was awaiting the arrival of a friend to go rollerblading. It was not unusual, given the hot days and blaring sun, for the military personnel to work out at night after the sun had set and the temperatures started to drop. After all, it was over 100 degrees for a high that day, as it was for several days before. Steve was rolling up some rugs he had just bought in an excursion to town that day, when the blast went off.

Steve’s dwelling unit was about 200 yards from the blast site and the blast effect literally threw him across the room onto the sofa. Shards of glass spewed into the air, across the floor and into his body. To give an idea of what the glass did, Sherbo (p. 50) quotes airman Larry Oliver as he went into the corridor, in a building probably a similar distance away as was the building in which Goff was in: "I thoroughly expected to see the elevator doors split and damaged.  What I saw was glass impaled into the metal elevator doors and concrete walls." If glass is impaled in metal and concrete imagine where, and what, it can do in the human body. Goff said that could tell right away he was wounded and says “I had glass in me. I had some trouble breathing.” (Dominguez, p. 1) Add to his wounds, that there was no power, meaning no lighting, it was not a simple task. Stepping on glass with his bare feet, he treated himself as best he could, found some shoes, and then made his way to the medical area, through the darkened corridors of a building which had sustained significant blast damage. At the medical area, he started to work on patients, and after about 45 minutes, others treated Goff's wounds, as he worked on patients himself. As Dr. Robb, head of the 4404th medical unit at the Dhahran base said, “One flight surgeon was being bandaged for a serious chest wound while sewing up other patients” (Airman, p 10) This of course was Capt Steve Goff. Steve was generally limited to using his right arm since his left shoulder and arm were embedded with shards of glass, not to mention his chest wound. He would say that “Before I knew it, the patients were arriving fast and furious. (Dominguez, p 1) His Airman’s medal citation notes that he suffered a serious chest wound and “numerous lacerations to his hands and face.” He would later be transferred to a local hospital for treatment.

Photo of 4404 Provisional Medical Group
Steve Goff behind sign near center of photo
Photo Courtesy of Benjamin Scott Coleman

Meanwhile at the home front I spent part of my lunch hour attempting to call our US House Representative’s and Senator offices to see if they could find out Steve’s status. No luck. No one in the family had heard from him. My Dad, however, saw a news broadcast with him treating patients, and later when we talked to him he let us know about the broadcast. The thing is he found out about Steve being alive, due to a news broadcast.  The bombing was on Tuesday and we found out after the following Wednesday. Jamieson (p 83) indicates that Steve treated many patients. Then Lt Col (now Lt General) Douglas Robb, who was then interim commander of the 4404th Medical Group indicates that 519 persons were treated in the hours after the bombing, and of that number 317 were treated at the Khobar Towers complex. The last patients were being sewed up at about 5:00 am. Let me quote from Jamieson’s work:

Dr. Steve Goff a Schofield, Wisconsin, resident who had deployed to Saudi 
Arabia from Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana, had declined Dr. Robb's invitation 
to make the dinner and shopping trip to downtown Dhahran earlier that 
evening. He had remained at Khobar and suffered glass lacerations in the bombing. 
Dr. Goff helped the patients at the clinic, undeterred by a shard in his chest. Later, 
even while his own wound was being bandaged, he continued sewing up injured airmen.
Like those around him, Goff worked tirelessly, eventually helping more than 
200 patients. In view of his own injury, he was taken to King Fahd University 
Hospital; and on July 3, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Ronald R. Fogleman presented 
him the Airman's Medal. (p. 83)

As one can see, Steve Goff did not even have to be at the base, as he declined a dinner (and shopping) invitation from Dr Robb and other senior officers. He declined, in part, because he already had purchased carpets (rugs) in town on an earlier trip. Robb was actually entering a carpet shop, about ¾ miles from the explosion, when he heard, felt and saw the glass break the store front windows. Given his experience, Robb thought the blast was in town and not at the base housing complex. Only by the fate of a simple daily life choice, having bought some rugs, was Steve Goff present at the complex at 10:00 pm that hot summer night. He sustained an injury which would affect the course of his life. If Goff had taken up Dr Robb's invitation, which would have been likely had he not already purchased some rugs, he would not have been at the Towers at the time of the blast.

Glass shards, and window coverings blown across room
Source: Family archives

In his prevalent self-effacing style, Goff would provide much of the credit of medical care to the full staff. As Dominguez reports (p 2): “Major Goff attributes much of the medical success not only to the clinic staff, but to all those who embarked on the first aid, buddy care system to help those injured.” She goes on to quote Steve “If it weren’t for people taking the initiative to utilize what they were trained to do, the situation could have been much worse. Fortunately the response on everyone’s part was a contributing factor.” The air force personnel are trained to respond to a variety of events, and as Michael Willis, said, (Sherbo, p. 69) "An announcement came over the Giant Voice asking for people to help care for the wounded." The buddy system was being enacted.  More than that, anyone who could provide aid was providing aid, and if you had any training, or even watched a human being stitched, chances are you may have been called on to help stitch a fellow airman. It is fortunate, that the doctors pushed the medics, as Benjamin Scott Coleman said (Sarbo, p 25), "One thing I'll say for our flight docs at the Khobar Clinic: they kept us involved and were constantly training us to improve our skills."

Steve Goff being recognized
Source: Family archives

Steve would help push the medics. Yet, Goff's self-less endeavors of helping others before himself endeared himself to the American public, who, like my Dad, saw him in. a newscast in which he was interviewed. Dominguez puts it this way, “the major caught the heartstrings of many people around America as he stood before national camera crews telling the events that took place that night. Since then, the public has regarded him as a hero.” It was just such action which earned him the Airman’s medal which was presented by Air Force Chief of Staff General Ronald Fogelman on 3 July, 1996. However, Steve never really thought himself a hero. He would say: “I never felt myself a hero through all of this. There were a lot of people who went above and beyond that night and a lot of people who did a lot more than I did. Receiving this medal is embarrassing in a way, but I can accept it as a tribute to all the medical people who were heroes that night.” (Dominguez, p 2). I have read more about his efforts that night than what he was willing to share with us. Just as my Dad did not like to talk about much of his experiences in WWII, Steve probably did not wish to discuss the events of that night which so shook and would affect his later, and short years, on this planet earth. The Airman’s medal would say otherwise, for it is the highest air force award for heroism in a non-combat situation. With all due respect to my brother-in-law, the Airman Medal was awarded by direction of the President of the United States. In that sense, the President of the United States, William J Clinton, the secretary of the US Air Force, the Air Force Chief of Staff, and the many in the American public all say he was a hero for his actions on the night of June 25, 1996.

Room with glass shards and rugs he had purchased
Source: Family archives

 
Through it all Steve kept his sense of humor. After receiving the Airman’s medal from General Fogelman, Steve was asked if had anything to do over again, what would he do, and his simple answer was: “duck”.  As we can see, training was important, and as Steve would say they had trained for such events, although none with an anticipated 400 casualties. Yet, he could also make fun of the military way of life. Here is one example: Dr Paul Nelson, who served under Steve at Spangdahlem (Germany)  air base in 1999, wrote that he had not known for the first year he served with Steve that Steve was one of the heroes of the Khobar Towers bombing.  He would hear about Steve’s heroic actions after that bombing from a friend of his whom Steve had treated that night. When he inquired of Steve about the event, Nelson noted that “Steve’s short answer was standard act,” Steve simply said “When some of the guys got shocky we would take the big stacks of crap in binders we had spent so much time working on and put it under their feet….That was the one time I’d actually seen paperwork save lives in my career….”

Steve Goff was a reluctant hero feeling he did his duty as did many others in the medical trenches and on the base that fateful night in the midst of the Saudi desert. He really did not want the award, but felt that in not accepting the award, it would show disservice to his medical colleagues at Khobar Towers. His recognition was their recognition. Daniel James Brown in his 2016 work on the 1894 Hinckley firestorm perhaps sums it up best:   

Research suggests that that people who act heroically in a disaster often carry a special burden later--foisted upon them by an admiring public that holds them to a higher standard.  It seems that we expect our heroes to be larger than life even after their exploits are completed.  And, because we expect them to be stronger and braver than the ordinary cut of humanity, our heroes often suffer their own demons in tortured silence.

It is a sad commentary on life that these reluctant heroes often suffer in silence. That was the case with Steve Goff, who liked his work as a flight surgeon. He also liked his work being helicoptered in to remote areas in the United States to treat and stabilize persons hurt in the wilderness. He gave our sons some t-shirts with his unit number and a donkey being pulled up in a sling to a helicopter with the writing just above the image saying "We'll save yours"  and just below "too".

Steve Goff (hidden) receiving Airman's Medal
from Air Force Chief of Staff Gen Ronald Fogelman
Source: Family archives

Today, on the 25th anniversary of the Khobar Towers bombing, a few persons in the nation will still remember and recall this terrorist attack. Every terrorist attack is consequential to those affected.   Unfortunately, the world still sees the Islamic militants at action in the Middle East, in Africa, Indonesia, the Philippines and elsewhere, and still,even at times, in first world countries. On that night, and the next morning, Captain Goff, MD did what he was trained to do in a mass casualty event. Even while suffering a severe injury himself, he worked tirelessly to assist others. While he did not see his actions as heroic, many others did. 

*Shortly after the bombing Steve was promoted to Major, hence many documents about the Khobar Towers bombing will refer to him as Major Goff.

Sources:

1. Jamieson, Perry D. Khobar Towers, Tragedy and Response, 2008, US Government Printing Office.
2. https://www.britannica.com/event/Khobar-Towers-bombing-of-1996
3. Dominguez, Debra “Malmstrom doctor returns from Dhahran a Hero” in “High Plains Warrior'',            Malmstrom AFB, Montana, 9 Aug 1996, v. 8 no. 29
4. Nelson, Paul,“In Memorium, Dr Steve Goff” in “Flightlines”, p 35
5. Bailey, Capt Timothy, Dec 1996, “Buddies Cared” in “Airman” Magazine
6. Citation to Accompany the Award of the Airman’s Medal

7. Brown, Daniel James. 2016. Under a Flaming Sky: The Great Hinckley Firestorm of 1894, Roman and Littlefield

8. Sherbo, Paul, 2021. Through the Perilous Night: Khobar Bombing Survivors Remember, Patriot Media Inc.

9.  Purple Heart award

10.  https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2021/06/21/remembering-the-khobar-towers-bombing/. (Bruce Reidel)

Author's note: For an account of Steve Goff, by a fellow airman and friend, see: https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/former-medic-remembers-heroes-victims-of-bombing-of-khobar-towers/

Note: photos at Khobar Housing facility from Family archives taken by Steve Goff, or a friend

Camping Kids

For part of a week in early June my wife and I went camping at a state park in Sauk County for a few nights.  Off to the side of our site, were a couple families, perhaps camping together. In the mix were some children, whose numbers, oddly, seemed to vary for the few days we were present.  Say about five or so children ranging from age from about 6 or 7 to teenagers. What was of interest to my wife is how their activities reminded her when she camped with her parents and siblings, along with her aunt and uncle and their children.  Sometimes other of her family members would join in, to make a rather large gathering that today would be at a group campsite. Camping kids can run the gamut from making life interesting and fun to watch, to the opposite end of some who may be to rowdy for the time and place.  Like last year with the language some kids used while we were camping in northern WI. On our most recent trip this week (June 123 to 18) my wife noted the sassy words two girls made to their grandmother at the beach.

Campsite, June 13 to 18, 2021

My wife, her siblings, and some of her cousins were camping kids.  Her father's place of employment would close the factory for two weeks in July, and it was for this two week period that they had their longest camping trips. They would camp up north at Crystal/Muskellunge, camp at Veteran's Park in Marinette County, and up at Lake Gogebic in the UP, to name but a few places. Through it all she kept her speech patterns as that of a southern Wisconsinite, and never really developed the northern WI, or UP accent all so love to mimic. She of course, was the oldest child (unless another cousin joined in) and had to do her fair share of work. She helped wash/shower the younger kids, which they sometimes did in assembly line fashion. 

Butterflies

The camping kids nearby made her reminisce about her childhood camping experiences.  Some of the stories I had heard before, but many were new. To say the 1960's to early 70's was a different time would be an understatement.  They would go to the dump to watch bears. Some of those dumps may well now be super-fund sites. Hopefully all have been remediated. Their family camping ranged from a small camper which would only sleep two, and a pull out canvas that covered the ground where she and her siblings would sleep to, later, a more suitable pop up.  In July of 1969 they took a television along with them on their camping excursion, one of those small but heavy cathode ray tube devices, that they plugged in at the shelter to watch Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon.  Or, in Utah, if you are a conspiracy theorist. Or, for the way out their crowd, perhaps Neil never left a Hollywood Studio.

Peshtigo River Rapids

Her dad and uncle Larry did most of the evening meal preparation.  One day, the kids and the moms went to the beach, but my land girl stayed back and recorded everything that went into the clean out the cooler stew her dad and uncle were cooking. I doubt, the cooking put a pause in their beer drinking.  After all, her dad and uncle would play Jarts, the old kind with the pointy tips, that could be weaponized, and are now banned, all the while consuming their fair share of beer. (I said it was a different time.)  Any way, the meal she recorded would, I guess, be the Goff-Schleis version of the Italian dish chicken Cacciatore, or Hunter's stew. She even recorded when a some pine sap dropped in. Her mother has treasured her notes of the meal, so it can either be replicated, or for what they ate.  Perhaps, the idea of keeping it is no one would try to replicate the meal. The cooking set they used, made by Mirro Aluminum, is now considered a classic, vintage set , and one in good condition has made its way to the Wisconsin Historical Society Museum.  We use their set, although there are a few missing pieces, mainly the coffee cups, but the pots and pans and plates are still used. She is extremely proud of her note taking. I perhaps now know the event that is the precursor to the woman I live with today who likes to make lists, and remake lists, and remade remade lists. It was her recording what went in to their meal that long ago night. I have a camping trip to thank for her attentiveness to list making, if not detail. 

Eagle in Flight

Her, and her parents, rule following assured that they were the good camping kids, no swearing, no loud activity after quiet hours.  Funny thing is this camping trip was to the same state park where we had our worst experience with noise and obnoxious behavior.  At least we did not have to put up with obnoxious behavior on this trip. 

Loon

While her dad and uncle did the preparation of supper, at times in the morning they had cereal.  She asked me if I recalled the small rectangular, individual serving size,cereal boxes that you opened up and pour some milk into and could then eat your cereal.  I said yes, I recall as a boy scout on some camping trips we had that for breakfast.  They came in a pack with different cereal varieties. I recall them being Kellogg's brand cereal, so it was frosted flakes, mini-wheats, rice krispies, raisin bran, and a few other types. I then said to her that I felt sorry for the person who had to eat the raisin bran.  As I said this, I thought to myself, that a woman, who is a strong rule follower and list maker who now drinks kumbucha, and eats sauerkraut will probably say she liked raisin bran.  Sure enough, she said she liked eating the raisin bran. I said, what kid in their right mind would eat raisin bran?  That would be my wife as a child.  She said I eat bran cereals, and I said I am adult, not a kid (no matter what she may think). 

I think what camping does is insert memories in our consciousness like any good excursion or adventure should do.  Just this past week we saw things we had never before seen, an eagle in a tree just above our heads, and a loon sitting on her nest. They will remain in our memories as does the over 6" of rain in less than three hours on the first night of our first major camping trip at Pattison State Park. Of course, this past Sunday we had rain, pea-sized hail, and high winds. But, memories, as my wife indicated by her stories almost two weeks ago, are also in the gatherings and interactions with family members.  

Photos by author, June 13 to 18

Simeon Goff and the Battle for Rhode Island

This is the last in a series of posts on Simeon Goff's service during the Revolutionary War. Simeon is my wife’s 4th great grandfather. Simeon Goff would first serve in the Revolutionary War starting in April 1775, and again in the summer and autumn of 1776. He would then serve a few more, shorter tours, in 1777 and 1778 both in the Battle for nearby Rhode Island. For some of his enlistments he served as a substitute. His short stints in 1777 and 1778 were at Tiverton, RI. Tiverton was only about 15 miles as the crow flies from Rehoboth, MA, so it was rather close to his home. His service to his fledgling country would end in 1778 with the Colonial forces assault on parts of Rhode Island.  What was occurring in Rhode Island in 1777 and 1778 to draw Simeon from his home?  This is the story of Simeon Goff and the battle for Rhode Island.

.

Simeon Goff Grave Marker

 

First some background to the issue of the battle of Rhode Island, at times referred to as the battle of Tiverton. In 1776 the Redcoats took control of Newport (RI) and Aquidneck Island. With control of these locations, the British had control of several inland waterways and the route to the ocean. Hence, Rhode Island was able to serve as a point of servicing and supplying the British land forces. With this, however, Tiverton, in 1777 became a hold out for colonial forces. In 1777 to 1778 thousands of American troops, including John Hancock and Paul Revere (both of Massachusetts), gathered at Tiverton in order to attack the British.  They hoped to cut off the Redcoat source to open waters, and to gain control of inland waters. Revere would write home saying “It seems as if half of Boston is here.” The forces put together to assault the British in Rhode Island, from Tiverton, were essentially regiments from Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Part of Simeon's Pension Record

 

Simeon's first service in Tiverton would begin as an enlisted man, in August of 1777. During June of 1777 construction was underway for a fort at Tiverton Heights. On June 28, the US colors were raised over the fort. A week later, Lt Col William Barton undertook a raid on Aquidneck to capture a British general, his bravery was so impressive that the fort became known as Fort Barton. Hence, it would be at this fort that Simeon Goff would arrive on a sultry summer day in early August of 1777. After this month of service.  What is interesting, a month later he was actually drafted into the service for the colonies in October, probably Oct 1, 1777. Having been drafted for a month of service shows the need for man power by the colonial forces. Simeon was close to the action, and instead of drawing troops from afar they probably went around to towns and villages in the area, with Rehoboth being 15 miles away, the daytime ride was made to obtain healthy military aged men.  It makes me wonder if General Washington ever came to appreciate the state militia. Simeon's service by the draft lasted a month as he was mustered out on 30 October. It was during October of 1777 that an invasion of the British holdings in Rhode Island was attempted, but in the end it was a half-hearted attempt due to logistical problems of supply and the inexperience of the commanding officer. Simeon was part of the large contingent of regiments assigned to Tiverton at Fort Barton.

Simeon’s muster roll makes note that he was at Tiverton on Oct 7, 1777, which makes me think that date was important and possibly one of the invasion dates. While his first month of service in 1777 was as a drummer, his service in October, for which he was drafted, he is listed as a private, and infantry. His service in 1777 would end at Tiverton, but less than a year later he would return once again to Tiverton for his final tour of duty.

Table in Pension Record, which Records of Tours
of Duty by Simeon Goff

In August 1778 Simeon began his final service in the Revolutionary War, again serving at Tiverton for 20 days, according to his pension request. For all of his prior services he was a single man, but on 30 January of 1778 he was betrothed to Thankful Jones at Rehoboth, and now added the title of husband to his title of patriot. The call for an invasion of Rhode Island would once again bring him to service, and once again as a substitute soldier. In this short term engagement, he served as a substitute for a man with the last name Basto. Given his service in August 1778, Simeon was present for the Battle of Rhode Island. With the failed attempts of 1777, things would be put on hold until August of 1778. General Sullivan had been put in charge of the invasion in early 1778 by General Washington. Prior to the noted invasion, the Continental forces gathered at Fort Barton, and then made their way to Howland’s Ferry for the crossing. I quote the following from http://www.tivertonhistorical.org/tiverton-stories/the-battle-of-rhode-island/:

On August 9th, the Battle of Rhode Island began with the crossing at Howland’s Ferry of 11,000 Continental line troops and militia. The French Navy blocked Narragansett Bay, forcing the British to scuttle their small naval force. The American Army, under Sullivan, landed at Rhode Island and forced the smaller British/German force to withdraw behind fortifications built around the Town of Newport.

Critical to the attack was the French Fleet, coordinated with American land forces The coordination was to be by the Frenchman Marquis de Lafayette, who is famous for his actions during the war. As the French took the British naval forces to open water for a sea battle a hurricane struck which significantly affected the attack, and left ships in need of repair. One issue with the attack was the lack of proper coordination with the ground troops making the attack which reduced the effect of the French fleet before the hurricane struck. After a twelve day siege General Sullivan realized he would never obtain his full goal of moving the British out. With regret he ordered the withdrawal of his troops back to the mainland. By August 30, all his forces were back to the mainland. The British failed to halt the retreat of the Continental forces, although the opportunity was present. As one source notes: After this battle, most of the soldiers departed the area, leaving only a handful of men at the fort. Simeon Goff was one of the men who left Rhode Island after the retreat.

Marriage Record to Thankful Jones

Simeon would return home after the Battle for Rhode Island, never to again see action in the Revolutionary War. Simeon had, however, served his country at critical times during his service over four years in the war. If you count his 1777 service as two services (one enlistment and one being drafted) you can say that he served five tours of duty in the war effort. Many of his tours were as a substitute soldier for someone else. In 1784 Thankful Jones died, likely due to childbirth. Simeon married Chloe Peck in Rehoboth in 1786. In 1793 my wife’s 3rd great grandfather was born in Rehoboth to Chloe and Simeon Goff. In Welsh, Goff means red-haired person, but I do not know the color of Simeon’s hair. Simeon, who was born in Rehoboth on 18 January 1754 in Rehoboth, Bristol County, in the Massachusetts Colony of British America would move from the family town of Rehoboth in June 1799 and move to Savoy, in the county of Berkshire, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States of America. His soul would be lifted from this earth on 27 July 1846, at the age of 92. Simeon, through five tours of duty would help secure the freedom, liberty and prosperity for himself and his descendants, including my redheaded wife, and our two children, among many others.

 

SOURCES:   

http://sakonnethistorical.org/items/show/11ges

https://rhodetour.org/items/show/52

http://www.tivertonhistorical.org/tiverton-stories/the-battle-of-rhode-island/

Ancestry.com

Ralstongenealogy.com 

Note: Harold Ralston kindly allowed me to borrow some of the Goff genealogy from his website, noted above, and it from his website that I found Simeon Goff.

Ahead of the Trend

The pandemic has dramatically changed travel and recreation for the nation. Recreational vehicle (RV) sales, even with slow sales in April and May of 2020 due to shutdowns, took off last year and that has continued into this year. Wait times for an RV, particularly special order, can be several months, or in cases of the type we own, a year. Pundits never really predicted the large increase in the use of recreational vehicles that has occurred. I think this shows more how the pundits think, than a commentary on those who bought an RV.  People want to do things, and many chose a new path during Covid lock downs. What could be better than your own self-enclosed space set up in a woods? My wife and I took delivery of our RV on June 4, 2019.  It represents a significant change from our over twenty years of tent camping, which you can  read about here and here. Whether pandemic related or not, with the purchase of an RV, I was once again ahead of the trend. Yes, I, with my wife, were ahead of the trend of RV purchases. Although, I still think she is surprised I pulled the plug to buy one when I did (even after having looked for two years). Yes, in the RV world and in other matters, I am a trend setter.

Loons spotted in August 2020 near our NE WI Campsite

The dealer from whom we bought our T@B in 2019 has broadened their customer approach. I noticed it this year when I went to find their phone number on their website and saw it was a toll free number rather than the old Madison number. I recall being there one time about two years ago and seeing an In-Tech Luna Sol being picked up by a couple from North Carolina. The couple said said this was the only in-stock Luna Sol they could find, so they called, made the deal and came to pick it up. In June of 2019 the dealer was on par to sell more T@B's (our style camper) than they ever sold before, over 200 of them. In early 2020, as Covid was ramping up overseas in January and early February our dealer anticipated higher demand and picked up an extra load of T@B's that the factory had produced, on the idea that more persons would wish to camp and use an RV. He was right. Their RV sales, at least for  new T@B stock was all sold out.  A few used ones which were traded in were be readied for sale.  This year, they have no used inventory and new inventory is rather sparse.

Being ahead of trends is not uncommon for me, I think it is a habit. I have an explanation as to why I find myself a trendsetter. I generally hang on to something so long that what I have will eventually come back into style.  Hence, I always have considered myself to be a trend setter. Two examples. First, when I was a teenager I wore large black-framed glasses, often referred to as horn rims at the time. At the time most were wearing wire frames. These types of glass frames are now back in style.  I probably still have the frames, and could market them as vintage eye wear. I was decades ahead of the trends for glasses.  Second, several years ago silver or nickle type finishes for light fixtures and door hardware was in style and some persons were shifting to this new look, but not me.  I said, to those who would listen, which is really no one, at some point our brass fixtures will be back in style. What do you know, brass is now back in style, and I am once again have a house that is trendy. Perhaps not the style of fixture, but who am I to quibble? I think my wife has been deliriously shaking her head as she reads this paragraph. Probably in an up-down fashion to signal yes, rather than her normal side to side head shake. She likes to shake her head when I talk to her; I think it is to get the hair out of her eyes. After all, when I do something, her favorite comment to me is: "I just shake my head!"  My RV purchase, like other things in my life, I was truly ahead of the trend.

RV Shipments 2019 to 2020 by Month
image from some website

What has occurred over the past year is that people have their eyes on RV's. Being on a Facebook site for our brand of RV, we find a some persons in our demographic group that are like us, retired folks who get an RV after having tent camped for many years. Since 1957 was one of the largest birth years for boomers, many at that age are retiring at this point and one would think that would help drive RV sales. RV sales in 2019 were about 404,000 units (which is fewer than the total sold in 2018) compared to 430,412 in 2020, but, with so many now following the trend (doing the IN THING, by following Tom) the estimated sales for 2021 are estimated to be 100,000 more units, or about 530,000. We bought our RV in 2019, and hence the figures show we were ahead of the buying trend for RV's.  The figures don't lie.  RV sales increased by over 30,000 units in 2020 even though supply was a big issue since many factories were shut down in the spring due to Covid.  And, to think their will be 100,000 more units sold this year than in 2020. To think, I led the trend. Trendsetter could be my new middle name. That is a lot of households following our lead by now buying an RV.  Those numbers do not include sales of used RV's.  

Lake Kegonsa State Park, June 2020

Now, I would have thought the follow the T-team lead was limited to those in my demographic, but it is not.  The ever trendy, and hip, millennial age group (generally recognized as those born about 1981-1994) have moved into RV's. To think they are following my lead, is well, rather surprising. But, this only shows my level of influence in trendsetting. Business Insider says that the increase of this age group has driven the increase in sales. In fact, per that source, the millennial age cohort has greater interest in purchasing a RV than any other age group. So much for tent camping. I guess they not only like their phones, but now like their RV's and the glamping luxuries found there-in. Rentals of RV's by millennial's increased by over 70% from 2019 to 2020. In 2019 14% of this demographic cohort said they would never take an RV trip and in 2020 that decreased to 6%. I now know that I am really hip when a millennial follows my lead. There are campers that cater to the younger set, the millennial cohort, for the brand we own, the model is called, T@G's, and our shorter, lighter weight, and are generally made for sleeping inside, or chilling out, and cooking at the back. They have a kitchen area in the back, that is separate from the sleeping area. I saw my first T@G in a campground setting last year, for a young couple. They had a nice awning off the back to cover the kitchen and provide more shelter.

T@G Camper by NuCamp, for the Younger Age Group
Image from NuCamp website

Of course, there is a downside to all those who have followed the T-team lead. First, is getting service on the camper, like packing of wheel bearings (which I did over 40 years ago on a trailer and recall it so difficult and challenging so I will not do it again) and changing the glycol fluid in our Alde to the new type, which requires a special pump to change out. I had our trailer at our dealer for over a week and both efforts of this work was still not completed. We went camping and dropped it off again for four days, and found the work all completed. Second, as we are retired we can camp during the week, but campgrounds are likely to be more full on weekends.  Those RV's have to go somewhere. These two situations make me wonder how many campers will sell their RV when the first major problem crops up? On the T@B Facebook site one person sold their camper after having difficulty backing it up. Contrary to what one may think, it is more difficult to back up a shorter trailer than a longer one. We really do not make full use of our campers amenities, as we have only once or twice used the stove to heat water, really to make sure it works, and we have yet to use the toilet. We do find the shower nice, particularly since we like to rustic camp at locations with no showers. We used the air conditioning one time for about 15 minutes, on a hot humid day, and the only time we connected to electricity. While we do not use all the features, sleeping off the ground, and having a more enclosed space is nice on cold nights. We have once turned on the heat, but I don't think the it had to kick in, as the cabin temperature stayed above the temperature level to which I set the thermostat. This was last September when camping at Gov Dodge.

One of our Favorite Campsites

Last year, the state made some adjustments for the demand. One example is that last fall, the Cox Hollow campground at Gov Dodge State Park was going to remain open longer than it normally would to better accommodate demand. It would normally shut down at the end of September, but was planned to remain open another two weeks, if not to the end of the month. The state did not open the inside loop at Lake Kegonsa early this year, which I found curious since the water on the loop was on, and there are no toilet buildings on the loop that would have to be cleaned.  I already see that persons have booked many of the campsites out west, much earlier it is said, than in normal times. Also, a Wisconsin camper posted in early May that all electric sites at every state park for every weekend from May through August were fully booked.  I think last year tended to be different since so many persons were working from home and home could be mobile, using their phone and data plans.  There are many on the T@B Facebook site that worked, or work, part of week from their camper. That is where state parks, many of which have electric hookups, have a leg up on many National Forest sites which tend more rustic. Which is fine with me since Land Girl and we like the rustic sites. Although the rustic sites have their problems--mainly those camper who use generators. Such is life camping.

The start of the 2020 camping season was delayed last year, at least in Wisconsin, with state campgrounds not opening until mid-June (most normally open May 1) and the national forest sites generally followed state guidelines there was pent up demand. Hence, you had more people, per the statistics, out camping, but starting later. In 2020, there were 94.5 million US Households who camped at least one time in 2020, with that number including over 10 million first time campers. On my block of fourteen homes, currently four households own an RV (one is selling their 5th wheel to buy an even larger one), and I only am aware of one other family on the block that camps, and they tent camp. One family used to camp, but no longer do so, and sold their pop-up. When we bought our camper, which has less room inside than the family tent we used, the dealer told us that people were going for the smaller campers or the really large campers, that sales for mid-size campers were not as high in demand.  I guess it is like, what I call, the missing middle in the housing market. 

Gov Dodge State Park, Sept 2020

Once again I find myself as a trendsetter, and a trendsetter, and for different demographic groups. We bought the RV for better shelter during rain, which always seems to happen on our camping trips, for warmth and to be able to travel and see the many wonders our country has to offer. Covid has left us mainly in Wisconsin for now, but hopefully in a year or two we can make excursions beyond Wisconsin and Minnesota.  And if we do, the chances are we will find some millennial aged adults enjoying life in an RV.  Following me as I am ahead of the trend.