Interviewer(s): James Sell; Lauren Penney; Colleen O'Donnell. Gray, LA

Affiliation: University of Arizona

I (Jim) had known that Lloyd Geist was the pioneer aviator in Houma, who set up the first flying service after his military service in WWII. CJ Christ set up the interview as a way of recording Lloyd's experiences in both WWII (he was a combat fighter pilot) and the oil field. The interview with Mr. Geist then represents a view of aviation pioneering in the area. Also present on this interview were CJ Christ, Lloyd's wife Marilyn, and Charles Bush, a friend, who was there and interested. Also present for part of this interview was Lloyd Geist Jr., who is a pilot who flies for a local lawyer, and perhaps someday would be a good interview on his own. He promised to try to find his father's old air photos of the area and send copies. Mr. Geist was identified to be reinterviewed because of his additional military service during World War II. He brought a notebook that listed information on his life during the war and his flight log. The second interview was conducted as part of the study of the links between WWII and the offshore industry.

Lloyd Geist started his real interest in aviation from the age of nine, when in 1930 a pair of barnstormers landed in a field near his house. In return for his keeping the other children off the fabric wings, he was given a free ride. He continued his interest in aviation through high school. When he graduated in 1938, he worked as a roustabout for Texaco for a short time. That same year he joined the US Army Air Corps, but became a mechanic when he found that only college graduates could have pilot training. World War II changed that and in 1942 he was trained as a pilot. After serving as an instructor in the US, in 1944 he was placed in a special fighter squadron formed of all pilot instructors to fight in Europe. Arriving in England in April 1944, his squadron was assigned to P-47 "Thunderbolts" and assigned to escort and ground support missions. He flew cover over the D-Day invasion, but did little because, he noted, only one German fighter was even seen near the invasion beaches, and he kept his distance. He did shoot down a German fighter, but mostly flew ground cover for the ground troops. In November 1944, he and the other two surviving pilots of his squadron returned to the USA, and by winter of 1945, he was released from the service.

In 1946, Mr. Geist opened up a flying school in Houma, giving lessons that could be paid on the GI Bill. In 1948 he began flying for Texaco. In 1950, he started Geist Seaplane Service and opened up a base on the Intracoastal Canal. Most of his work involved "hotshot" flying, transport of personnel, or pipeline inspection for the oil companies. In 1969, he sold his company to Billy Wurzlow and moved to Colorado. By 1978 he was back in Houma, flying for oil service companies until he retired in 1992.