Sunday, May 5, 2024
WAY OF LIFE: Former Navy submarine chief Jerry Goin experienced three near-death events in his lifetime, including the notorious and almost fatal submarine deep dive that took place on Feb. 11, 1969, off the southern coast of Cuba.
Most are probably familiar with the old proverb that cats have nine lives, but what about people?
“Lucky” is one word to describe former Navy submarine chief Jerry Goin, whose three near-death experiences have caused the 79 year old to develop a new lease on life.
Goin, a Granbury resident, became fascinated with submarines when he first saw the 1954 movie, “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,” when he was a young boy. That interest stayed with him until he was 18, when he decided to join the Navy Nuclear Submarine Program a week after graduating from Birdville High School in 1961.
“My training submarine was the USS Cavalia SS-244, which is now a tourist attraction at Sea Wolf Park in Galveston,” he said. “My first nuclear submarine was the USS Seadragon SSN-584 in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. We sailed all over the Pacific Ocean and made the first submarine rendezvous with another nuclear submarine under the polar icecap at the North Pole. We had to break through 12 feet of ice.”
Goin’s second duty station was at the submarine drydock facility in Holy Loch, Scotland, from 1963-1965. He returned to submarine duty in July 1965, aboard the USS Chopper SS-342 in Key West, Florida. The Chopper was a WWII submarine and was mostly used to train junior officers for the nuclear power program.
It was when Goin was aboard the Chopper that the infamous — and almost fatal — deep dive took place off the southern coast of Cuba on Feb. 11, 1969.
During the incident, an “engineering failure” caused the submarine to nosedive to a depth of 1,200 feet when the test depth was only 400 feet.
"The guy that was in the aft engine room fell through the door which was now on the floor, and I was hanging on the gauge board in the far engine room,” he said. “Well, he came flying by me and I reached out and grabbed him, and he hit his head on the gauge board and scalped himself. I was trying to hang on to him, and then he and I fell all the way to the other end of the engine room and then the work bench fell on top of us.”
Goin even remembers that the cook was making spaghetti for supper that evening as sauce splattered all over the submarine during the deep dive.
“The hatches were leaking; the pressure holds were bent to where the hatches wouldn't even seal anymore — it was kind of scary,” he said.
Luckily, the crew was able to get all four engines started and the submarine resurfaced and returned to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Several crewmembers were injured — including Goin — but no lives were lost.
However, due to the incident, the electrical panels had gotten salt water in them and there was a water leak in the engine room, making the Chopper beyond repair.
“His was the only submarine that has done the deep dive and has survived — even today,” said Goin’s wife of seven years, Barbara.
“We hit the surface in excess of 55 miles an hour. Being inside, I could tell we were moving pretty fast. I didn't know we were going that fast though,” Jerry said.
While the crew headed to Key West, they had a “major escort” under heavy air and sea guard involving ships, submarines and aircrafts. The crew was eventually transferred to other duty stations.
Jerry’s new duty station was Training Squadron 22, Naval Air Station in Kingsville, as a career counselor. Prior injuries required back surgery, and he was released from active duty in 1976. He started college at Texas A&I University in Kingsville and graduated in May 1984.
During this time, he was also employed by Exxon Co, USA Production Department at the King Ranch in Kingsville in 1980 before transferring to Offshore Operations Gulf of Mexico in 1989.
While he was working on the offshore rig, he had a heart attack, his second brush with death. Luckily, his work partner at the time happened to have nitroglycerin — a standard treatment for heart attack patients — and the drug was administered to Jerry.
In 1986, Jerry joined the Naval Reserve at Corpus Christi Naval Air Station as a member of a “special warfare” unit. His unit was called to active duty in 1991 to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait in support of Operation Desert Storm for six months. He was promoted to E-7 (chief petty officer) upon his return to Corpus Christi in 1991. He finally said goodbye to the Navy in 1996 after 24 years of service.
Jerry moved to Granbury in 2000 and began the start of his third career as a school bus driver for the GISD school district. For most of his 13 years, he drove a “short bus,” and it was during this time that he met his wife, Barbara, who was also a bus driver at the time. He continued working for GISD until 2014.
In 2015, he had to undergo a quadruple heart bypass and get a pacemaker installed — his third near-death experience.
“He almost died,” Barbara said. “It gave him about a 0% chance to get out of there, so that's three times he was supposed to die.”
“That’s the life and lows of a Navy chief,” Jerry added, chuckling.
Jerry misses submarine duty and the travel that it brought him — from Korea, Tokyo and Thailand to Singapore and Pearl Harbor.
“Every one of those guys would get back on a submarine today if you talk to them,” Barbara said.
“It was a way of life,” Jerry added.
Jerry and Barbara continue to travel on motorcycles together. For 10 years, Jerry has also been president of a local motorcycle club composed of former submarine veterans. The local chapter has 38 members while the national chapter has 400.
Jerry also still enjoys practicing guitar and fishing. He continues to live every day in memory of his twin brother, Larry, a former Granbury police officer who passed away 12 years ago.
“You just take care of your own. The Navy takes care of its own, submarine sailors especially,” Jerry added. “It seems like I've worn a uniform all my life. I first put on my chief petty officer uniform 30 years ago, and it still fits today. I just don’t remember the buttons being so tight.”
