Born on December 12, 1908, in Minneapolis, MN, the only son of Edgar August Goetz and Else Duerr Goetz. Attended the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Enrolled as a Cadet in the United States Army Air Corps and later attained the rank of Second Lieutenant. Was stationed at Kelly Field, San Antonio, TX, and at Rockwell Field, Coronado, CA, serving from 1927 to 1935. Died on April 9, 1935, in Riverside, CA of diphtheria. Buried in the Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington VA, Grave 4978, Section 6, near the Tomb of the Unknowns.

Bill made Air Corps history on August 12, 1929. Under the headline "Grand Caterpillar Goetz Tells Story of His Thrilling Jump," a "Milwaukee Journal" article cited a San Antonio newspaper report:

"'Grand Exalted Master Caterpillar' is the title San Antonio flyers gave Robert W. Goetz of Kelly Field Tuesday, after he had demonstrated the most novel method of gaining membership in the parachute jumpers fraternity.

"Cadet Goetz, while stunting above Kelly Field Monday, had one of the most unusual accidents in air craft history, when he was thrown from his pursuit plane and forced to descend by parachute.

"Centrifugal force forced him from the cockpit when his safety belt broke, and he found himself hurtling through air, while the ship, hundreds of feet away in a moment, crashed to earth. Pulling the ripcord of his parachute, the cadet floated safely to earth to tell of his adventure."

Thus, Bill became the twelfth Caterpillar Club member at Kelly Field. Charles Lindbergh had joined the Club earlier after a midair collision there in 1925.