After the war, Goettge served in a number of billets, including the 1st Provisional Brigade in Haiti, and at Headquarters of the Department of the Pacific, in San Francisco and Hawaii.

In June 1933, Goettge served aboard the battleship USS Pennsylvania and then was commanding officer of the Marine detachment at Annapolis, Maryland.

In addition to information gleaned from interviews, Goettge brought eight Australians to where the First Marine Division was forming in Wellington, New Zealand.

[2] The Marines landed on Guadalcanal on 7 August 1942 and within several days rounded up a number of Japanese Navy laborers who had been assigned to construct the airfield at Lunga Point.

The plan was to follow the Matanikau upstream, bivouac for a night, then head east back to the Lunga perimeter.

Just before the patrol departed on the evening of 12 August, Goettge was informed by Colonel William J. Whaling, the 5th Marine's executive officer, that the Japanese were strongly defending the area between Point Cruz and the mouth of the Matanikau.

Unbeknownst to Goettge, the Japanese had heard the sound of the stuck landing craft and began organizing troops on a coral plateau about 200 yards (180 m) inland from the Marines.

Goettge ordered a defensive perimeter established, then took two men, Captain Ringer and First Sergeant Custer, with him to scout the jungle.

About 30 minutes after landing, Sergeant Arndt was tasked to head out into the ocean and try to swim back to the Lunga perimeter, over 5 miles (8 km) to the east.

After some time, Captain Ringer ordered another Marine, Corporal Spaulding, to make a second attempt to get back to American lines.

As the Marines made their dash off the beach, the Japanese opened fire, cutting down the remaining survivors[3] except for Platoon Sergeant Frank Few.

Few looked back and saw Japanese troops swarming the beach, mutilating the bodies of the dead or wounded but still alive Marines.

Few also managed to make it back to friendly lines by swimming approximately four miles (6 km) through shark-infested waters.