Renowned Military Historian Alfred Goldberg Dies at 105

Alfred Goldberg, a distinguished historian of U.S. military affairs, passed away on September 3, 2024, at his residence in Falls Church, Virginia, at the age of 105. His granddaughter, Rachel Goldberg, confirmed his passing without specifying the cause.

Goldberg's remarkable career began during World War II when a chance encounter with a college classmate led to his transfer from mess hall duty to a role as a historian for the Army Air Forces under General Dwight D. Eisenhower's command. This assignment marked the beginning of a seven-decade journey documenting crucial moments in American military history.

Following the D-Day landings on June 6, 1944, which involved over 156,000 Allied troops, Goldberg entered France to chronicle U.S. air operations in the war's final months. His subsequent work as chief historian for the defense secretary's office from 1973 to 2007 provided him with unique insights into major historical events, including the conclusion of the Vietnam War on April 30, 1975, the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, and the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Goldberg's commitment to accuracy and objectivity was evident in his approach to historical documentation. He viewed his role as similar to that of a journalist, striving to prevent officials from embellishing or whitewashing events. His published works, including "A History of the United States Air Force, 1907-1957" and "The Pentagon: The First Fifty Years" (1992), are considered authoritative in the field of military history.

"It derives from the unconscious absorption through the pores, so to speak, of the ideas, attitudes, predilections, biases, loyalties of the institutional environment. The closer to the throne, the greater the danger."

Notably, Goldberg served on the Warren Commission, established by President Lyndon B. Johnson on November 29, 1963, to investigate the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. He steadfastly supported the commission's 1964 conclusions that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone, despite numerous conspiracy theories that emerged over the years.

In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, which resulted in 2,977 fatalities, Goldberg, then in his early 80s, led a team that interviewed over 1,300 military and civilian personnel. This effort culminated in the publication of "Pentagon 9/11" (2007), providing a comprehensive account of the events at the Department of Defense headquarters.

Born on December 23, 1918, in Baltimore to immigrant parents from Bessarabia (now part of Moldova), Goldberg's academic journey included a bachelor's degree from Western Maryland College (now McDaniel College) in 1938 and a doctorate from Johns Hopkins University in 1950. His military service saw him rise to the rank of colonel in the Air Force Reserve before retiring in 1978.

Goldberg's wife of 61 years, Gertrud "Gerta" Kannova, who passed away in 2010, had her own remarkable history as a courier for underground Jewish groups in Paris during World War II and later worked as a translator at the Nuremberg trials.

Throughout his career, Goldberg's meticulous approach to historical documentation and his unique position at the intersection of major events in U.S. military history made him an invaluable resource for understanding the complexities of American defense policy and operations.