Bessie G. Goethel was married to Louis N. Goethel, an Officer in the United States Army. Along with her participationd in the USO Women's Club, she also trained in motor mechanics in order to serve as part of the Volunteer Special Services Unit of the Bexar County Red Cross in the Motor Corps. The Red Cross Motor Corps made deliveries between San Antonio Army Hospitals, including Brooke Hospital and Fort Sam Houston.
In 1943 Dogs for Defense, Inc. issued a call for dogs to serve in the war effort. The Goethels volunteer their setter, Fritizie, who they had adopted as a puppy in 1939. Fritzie served as a sentry for appropximately a year with the Army before receiving an Honorable Discharge and being returned to his previous owners. During his service, Fritzie received an injury to his tail that would not heal and required amputation. Fritzie passed away May 13, 1945.
From 1939-1946, the Goethels were stationed at Camp Barkeley, near Abilene, Texas, Fort Sill, near Lawton, Oklahoma, and Fort Sam Houston, in San Antonio, Texas.
This collection consists of photographs, correspondence, clippings, scrapbooks, printed material and ephemera.
The collection is arranged as follows:
This collection is housed at UTSA's Main Campus and must be accessed via the John Peace Library Special Collections reading room. To request access, please use the
The researcher assumes full responsibility for observing all copyright, property, and libel laws as they apply.
There are no known other archival collections created by Bessie G. Goethel papers at the date of accessioning.
Received from Carl Lahser in July 2007 (Acc. 2007-081).
Collection processed by Nikki Lynn Thomas, Manuscripts Curator, February 2009.
[Identification of item], Bessie Goethel papers, MS 243, University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries Special Collections.
The bulk of Personal Materials documents the life of Friztie, the Goethel's dog that was voluntary given to the United States Army to be used war dog during World War II. Also included are materials related to Bessie Goethel's motor mechanics and first aid training courses as well as a scrapbook documenting her activies on a variety of Army bases.
Folder titles were provided from the photographs' captions. The first folder contains captions created by Bessie Goethel. Photocopies of captions have been filed with the appropriate photographs for ease of use. C-series was not part of the donation.
Photographs have been arranged as they were received by the donor.