Clarence Goetz enlisted originally in the US Army Air Corps but was sent home from aviation mechanics training in Long Island, NY in November 1918 when WWI ended. He enlisted in the US Navy in April 1919 and went to boot camp at Great Lakes Naval Training Center in Illinois. In July 1919, he departed Great Lakes for Norfolk, VA for an assignment on the USS ARKANSAS which was preparing to head to Bremerton, WA as part of the US Pacific Fleet. They departed Norfolk, went through the Panama Canal, and stopped in San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco before they arrived in Bremerton in the fall of 1919. After some time in dry dock, they embarked on a cruise to Pearl Harbor in fall of 1920 and crossed the equator on 24 January 1921 enroute to a port call in Chile. The ship returned to the US in April 1921 and Clarence was honorably discharged in California after completing his 2 years of service.