After months of speculation about when he would be able to return to Texas, Roland Goss was able to finally go home in early June 1945, almost one year to the day after the D-Day invasion and three years after he entered the Navy. His letters indicate that he fully expected to be sent to the Pacific to fight the Japanese but at least he would be able to spend some time at home with family and friends and would be able to marry Kay. The wedding took place on June 8, 1945. Since Kay had expected to be married the previous December, her wedding dress was more suitable for cold weather than for June in Texas. For his part, Stormy had pledged, after his miserable winter experience in Germany, that he would never again complain about the Texas heat.
As he had hoped in his letters, the Japanese did indeed “toss in the towel” in August 1945
so he and thousands of other servicemen could “start their lives over again.” In his case, that
new life included his wife and three children and a profitable career as a Dallas businessman. His business
was so successful that he eventually became one of those famous Texas millionaires. Despite his wealth,
however, he and his family continued to live modestly in a middle class suburb of Dallas.
Unfortunately, during the oil crisis of the 1980s, Stormy lost most of his fortune as he tried in vain to keep his company solvent by pouring in his own money. More than any other factor, he was probably a victim of that indigenous Texas optimism that guaranteed that conditions would always improve. He was consistently able to keep matters in perspective, however, because of his war experiences. He often said that, as far as he was concerned, every day after the war was a bonus that so many fellow servicemen did not live to enjoy.
Today Stormy and his wife, called “Katie” after they were married, reside together in an
assisted-living facility in Dallas. In 2005 they will celebrate their sixtieth wedding anniversary. He is no
longer able to remember the momentous events that he witnessed during World War II but, thanks to his
prodigious letter writing and the materials he collected and the interviews he gave, an archive exists
that illuminates the role he played in that conflict. It is hoped that this website will help to preserve
that archive and those memories.