UPDATE: My friend Zane Geier passed away on September 27, 2022
Zane Geier
US Navy 1944 – 1946
Interview by Mark Hubbs
Someone who does not know Zane Geier would have
trouble realizing he is 88 years old and a veteran of World War II. He is easy to smile; an active man with an
engaging sense of humor. He is as sharp
now as he has ever been. I have known Zane for over ten years, but
really only learned the story of his early life and war time experiences as a
result of this interview.
Zane Geier
US Navy 1944 – 1946
Interview by Mark Hubbs
Zane was born in May 1926 in the little village of
Weaver, Alabama, just north of Anniston.
His first up close experience related to the War were the many soldiers
from Fort McClellan who tramped by his community on road marches and field
maneuvers when he was in high school.
When soldiers stopped to draw water from his family well, he realized
they represented an entrepreneurial opportunity. He followed the marching columns on his
bicycle and cornered the market on Baby Ruths and Milky Ways each time they
stopped for a rest break.
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| Zane Geier just out of boot camp |
Zane’s father took a job with the Department of the
Navy before the War began and the family moved several times from 1936 to
1944. Zane did very well in school
despite the fact that he attended four different high schools in Alabama, South
Carolina, California and Florida. With
his graduation in May 1944 from Pensacola High School, he followed the path of
millions of young men and answered his country’s call. The Navy was the obvious choice due to his
father’s career in Navy shipyards.
Boot camp was at Camp Perry, Virginia, near
Williamsburg, and then on to radar training at the Fleet Training School at
Virginia Beach, Virginia. The training
at the Fleet Training School was fast and intense as the Navy struggled to
provide the new sailors and new ships needed for the final push in the Pacific
theater.
The Navy wasted no time in getting Seaman Geier to
sea. He was sent to the Brooklyn Navy
Yard and assigned to a brand new destroyer escort, the USS Cross. Almost all of the sailors were newer than the
ship. One hundred and ten men were
assigned to the Cross. Ninety five of
them were brand new sailors just out of boot camp and “A” school. A cadre of only fifteen “old salts” had to
train and blend this group of youngsters into an effective fighting crew. Zane was on board the ship when First Lady
Eleanor Roosevelt broke a bottle of champagne on the bow of the USS Cross
during its commissioning ceremony.
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| The USS Cross as she was outfitted for the Pacific theater |
Although Zane was a radarman during normal
operations of the ship, his battle station “was
on a 4 barrel, 40 millimeter gun mount on the starboard side, forward. I sat on the right hand side and turned the
crank that made the gun move laterally.”
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| Zane's 40mm gun firing during training exercises. Zane is the seated man on the front left of the gun tub |
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| Zane at his Battle Station |
After a shakedown cruise to Bermuda and convoy duty in
the Atlantic, the USS Cross was slated for duty with the Third Fleet in the
Pacific. The Cross rendezvoused with the
fleet at Eniwetok Atoll in the Marshall Island, and from there island hopped to
Ulithi and the Northern Marianas. The
Navy and Army were gearing up for what would become the largest, most intense,
campaign of the Pacific war – the Battle of Okinawa.
As the battle raged on the island of Okinawa, the US
Navy protected the landing sites from the Japanese Navy and air forces. This is where the Japanese first used Kamikazes
on a gigantic scale. Over 1,600 allied
ships ringed the island and each became targets for Japanese suicide
flyers. Destroyers and destroyer escorts,
such as the USS Cross, formed the outer ring of the fleet defenses. They provided early warning radar and fire
support against Japanese planes that attempted to break this perimeter to get at
the aircraft carriers, battleships and cruisers. As a result these smaller ships often became
primary targets when the Japanese flyers realized they could not break
through. Almost 5,000 American sailors
were killed in Kamikaze attacks during the course of the Okinawa Campaign.
Zane recalls, “many
occasions when the Cross and sister ships were engaged in pumping out a wall of
bullets at incoming Kamikaze. It was a
gut wrenching experience to see a plane coming towards us, low on the water,
getting closer and closer . . . and a feeling of relief to see the plane explode
. . . sometimes only 100 yards or so away . . .and feel the shock and hear a
sharp scraping sound as flying debris struck the ship.”
As the Battle of Okinawa wound down in late June
1945, the US Third Fleet moved its area of operations off the island of Honshu
in preparation of the invasion of the Japanese homeland. However, the destruction of the Japanese
cites of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by American atomic bombs sealed the fate of
Japan. They formally surrendered on August 25, 1945.
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| A sailor is transferred from the battleship USS West Virginia to the USS Cross |
The USS Cross was damaged during a massive typhoon
in October 1945. The ship was towed back
to the US for repair, but not before its crew was scattered and reassigned to
other ships. Zane found a new assignment
aboard the USS Hornet, one of the most famous aircraft carriers of World War
II. The Hornet participated in Operation
“Magic Carpet” when it ferried several thousand US soldiers back to the United
States. Zane was discharged from the
Navy on June 4, 1946.
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| On the flight deck of the USS Hornet |
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| Zane Geier served as a shore patrolman in the months before his discharge in 1946 |
Zane became an auditor
for the US General Accounting Office after the war, and even continued his
nautical career in the Navy Reserves in the late 1940s. He received a degree in accounting from the
University of Alabama in 1949, and attended Harvard University, Graduate School of
Business Administration, and completed the Program for Management Development
in 1963.
Zane is proud of
his service during World War II. He also
celebrated the sacrifice and heroism of veterans of other wars by participating
in Civil War and War of 1812 living history and reenactment programs for many
years. However, he understands the
futility of war and abhors it as a political means. He says:
“I am opposed to war and favor peaceful
coexistence instead. Although I fought
in a big war, and have observed the United States’ involvement in a long
succession of others, I am convinced it is all for naught. In the long run, most wars, even the
Crusades, have accomplished little. The
pain and suffering and loss of life and property caused by war have been
immense.”
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| Zane Geier in 2012 |
