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Peter Goutiere

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Peter Goutiere
Peter Goutiere, in 1944, wearing his CNAC uniform
Born
Peter Joffre de Goutiere

(1914-09-28)September 28, 1914
Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India
DiedJanuary 22, 2023(2023-01-22) (aged 108)
Katonah, New York
OccupationPilot
Spouse(s)Helen Elizabeth Brimmer (1939-1947)
Dorothy Wetzel (1947)
Evelyn S. Goutiere (1987-2023)
Children3
Parents
  • George Henry de Goutiere (father)
  • Alice Wintel (mother)
RelativesChristine Goutiere Weston (sister)

Peter Joffre Goutiere (September 28, 1914-January 22, 2023) was an American pilot who flew in North America, Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. He flew over the Himalayas during World War 2, out of Shanghai during the Chinese Civil War, and out of Beirut until the Lebanese Civil War. He was a prolific public speaker, an author, and a centenarian.[1][2]

Early life

[edit]
George Henry de Goutiere, Peter's father, in 1907

Peter Goutiere was born in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India in 1914, the son of British father and American mother.[3] [2][4][5] He attended the American Methodist school in Kumaon Lake District.[5] Goutiere's father was head of the English police service, while his mother later taught French.[6][7]

His father died when he was a child;[8] At 14, he was sent to live with a sister and her husband in Maine.[9] In 1930, he tied for first place in an archery tournament.[10]

In 1938, while a senior at Brewer High School in Bangor, Goutiere spoke on his life in India.[6] He was elected vice-president of the senior class.[11][12] He was active in drama.[13] He graduated in 1939 and gave the school a $50 gift for a scholarship.[14] In August, at age 24, he married Helen Elizabeth Brimmer, his high school's English teacher and drama coach.[2][15][16][17] The couple had one child, David Peter, before divorcing in January 1947.[18]

In 1940, he was part of a five-man team that won a state Skeet Shooting competition.[19] In 1941, he was a participant in a flying club.[20] In September 1941, he reported a fellow flier missing after they were separated in fog; his companion landed safely.[21]

Career

[edit]

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Goutiere attempted to join the Army Air Corps, only to learn that at age 27, he was too old to enlist to fight in World War 2.[2]

In 1942, he worked for Pan Am in Africa. From 1943 to 1948, he worked for the China National Aviation Corporation flying over the Himalayas -- a route know as The Hump.[5] Goutiere flew the route 680 times.[2] In 1944, Goutiere was profiled for his wartime work helping transport supplies into China from India.[22][23][24] He spoke at Bangor High School about his experience flying over the Himalayas for the Army Air Corps.[25]

In 1947, he was operating out of Shanghai when his wife Helen was granted a divorce.[18] He then had a brief marriage to Dorothy Wetzel, who decades later found notoriety for her role in the Watergate scandal after her marriage to CIA agent E. Howard Hunt.[26]

Returning to the US, he flew for National Airlines out of Miami.[5] From 1955 to 1961, he worked in the Middle East for Air Liban and flew out of a base in Beirut, Lebanon.[5] In 1962, he was working for Ghana Airways.[5]

He ended his career as a Federal Aviation Administration inspector, retiring in 1990 at age 76.[9][2][27]

Later life

[edit]
External media
video icon 2015 interview with Goutiere
video icon Part two of 2015 interview
document icon Himalayan Rogue Returns by Peter J. Goutiere

In 1995, he authored Himalayan Rogue, a book about his life.[9] He was active in "Suncoast Basha of the China-Burma-India Association".[28] In 2005, he was featured in an article about former CIA pilots who sought to get service benefits from the agency.[29][30] In 1999, a local veterans group named him "Person of the Year".[31] In 2008, he traveled to Tibet.[32] In 2014, Goutiere was profiled when he was re-united with an aircraft he had flown during World War 2.[33][34][35]

According to a 2020 profile, Goutiere was reportedly associated with Hussein bin Talal, king of Jordan, and Man Singh II, Maharaja of Jaipur.[4] According to a 2023 posthumous profile, Goutiere was a personal pilot for Chiang Kai-shek and briefly a suspect in an attempted assassination of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.[2]

Family and death

[edit]

Peter Goutiere died in 2023.[36][2] He married four times, and was survived by wife Eveyln.[2] In 1962, his mother Alicia died.[37] In 1989, Goutiere was interviewed upon the death of his sister, Christine Westone, a novelist whose works were generally set in India.[38] In 1945, she authored a book dedicated to her nephew David Peter Goutiere.[39] In 1999, his brother Vernon died. [40] In 2000, sister Geraldine died. In 2007, press related a story of his father and a family heir loom of a silver bowl.[7]

Further reading

[edit]
  • Himalayan Rogue. Turner Publishing Company. 15 June 1995. ISBN 978-1-56311-149-5.
  • China's Wings: War, Intrigue, Romance, and Adventure in the Middle Kingdom During the Golden Age of Flight. Random House Publishing. 28 February 2012. ISBN 978-0-345-53235-0. Archived from the original on 2020-01-31.
  • Forgotten Aviator: The Adventures of Royal Leonard. Dog Ear. 2011. ISBN 978-1-60844-929-3.
  • Maharanis: The Lives and Times of Three Generations of Indian Princesses. Viking. 2004. ISBN 978-0-670-91287-2. Archived from the original on 2020-06-18.

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ "Centenarian, former pilot returns to Bangor area, where he learned to fly". The Bangor Daily News. 7 October 2014. p. 9.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "How this Brewer High grad ended up with the nickname the 'Himalayan Rogue'". 14 May 2023.
  3. ↑ "Three pilots and a century of flight". 8 May 2021.
  4. 1 2 "Old and Bold, WW2 Hump Pilot Turns 106". 28 September 2020.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "K of C to Hear Pilot". Kennebec Journal. 9 March 1962. p. 11.
  6. 1 2 "Peter Goutiere as a teenager". The Bangor Daily News. 16 December 1938. p. 14.
  7. 1 2 "An Honored Tradition". Tampa Bay Times. 5 August 2007. p. 101.
  8. ↑ 1938 source reports age 4 when father died; Later sources report age 14
  9. 1 2 3 "High-flying adventurer writes book on derring-do".
  10. ↑ "Eagan Winner Archery Title with 802 PTS". Kennebec Journal. 11 August 1930. p. 8.
  11. ↑ "High School Classes Pick New Officers". Commercial. 22 September 1938. p. 9.
  12. ↑ "Brewer Prom". The Bangor Daily News. 6 June 1939. p. 15.
  13. ↑ "In Brewer Senior Play Tonight". The Bangor Daily News. 13 April 1939. p. 24.
  14. ↑ "Class Day and Commencement Speakers at Brewer High School". The Bangor Daily News. 8 June 1939. p. 14.
  15. ↑ "Marriage of Brimmer". Commercial. 26 August 1939. p. 5.
  16. ↑ "Marriage of Goutiere". Commercial. 20 June 1939. p. 3.
  17. ↑ "Miss Brimmer Get Surprise Shower Twice". Commercial. 7 June 1939. p. 7.
  18. 1 2 "Superior Court Grants Divorce in 77 Cases". Commercial. 24 January 1947. p. 7.
  19. ↑ "Winners at State Skeet Title Matches". Morning Sentinel. 19 August 1940. p. 3.
  20. ↑ "Flying Club". The Bangor Daily News. 6 December 1941. p. 14.
  21. ↑ "Missing Flier Lands at Ayer". Telegram & Gazette. 11 September 1941. p. 52.
  22. ↑ "Bangor Pilot Hauls Supplies over "Burma Road" into China". Commercial. 10 March 1944. p. 1.
  23. ↑ "Bangor Pilot Flew Aid to China over Himalayan Hump". Portland Press Herald. 9 April 1944. p. 6.
  24. ↑ "Vivid Picture is Shown to Rotary Club". The Bangor Daily News. 22 March 1944. p. 8.
  25. ↑ "Air Corps Officer Stresses Value of Air Corps Cadets". Commercial. 11 April 1944. p. 5.
  26. ↑ Hunt, Saint John (2015). Dorothy, "an Amoral and Dangerous Woman": The Murder of E. Howard Hunt's Wife : Watergate's Darkest Secret. Trine Day. ISBN 978-1-63424-037-6.
  27. ↑ "How this Brewer High grad ended up with the nickname the 'Himalayan Rogue'". 14 May 2023. Archived from the original on 25 July 2025.
  28. ↑ "Association kicks off new year of meetings". Tampa Bay Times. 8 September 2001. p. 166.
  29. ↑ "Pilots' New CIA Mission is to Win Service Benefits". The Tampa Tribune. 21 April 2005. p. 66.
  30. ↑ "CIA pilots (Continued)". The Tampa Tribune. 21 April 2005. p. 71.
  31. ↑ "Auxiliary to make Christmas brighter". The Tampa Tribune. 8 December 1999. p. 4.
  32. ↑ "Trip to Tibet". Tampa Bay Times. 18 May 2008. p. 65.
  33. ↑ "He's 99 and she's 100: Peter Goutiere is reunited with the DC-3 he flew over teh Himalayas in WWII". The Daily Herald. 8 September 2014. p. 3.
  34. ↑ "Pilot (Continued)". The Bangor Daily News. 7 October 2014. p. 12.
  35. ↑ https://cnac.org/cannonball_2015_march_01.pdf
  36. ↑ "Obituary for Peter J. Goutiere". The Journal News. 24 January 2023. pp. A9.
  37. ↑ "Obituary for Alicia L. Goutiere". The Courier-News. 16 October 1962. p. 15.
  38. ↑ "Obituary for Christine Weston". South Florida Sun Sentinel. 7 May 1989. p. 10.
  39. ↑ "Christine Weston Author of Charming Juvenile Book". Commercial. 14 November 1945. p. 8.
  40. ↑ "Obituary for Vernon GOUTIERE". Turlock Journal. 6 January 1999. p. 2.
[edit]
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