On May 4, 1944, Anthony flew his final mission to Biak aboard the lead aircraft of a standard bomber box formation, a position that attracted the heaviest enemy fire. Fifteen minutes after bombs away and while turning for home, Japanese Ki-84 fighters attacked. Cannon fire crippled the B-24, and within minutes the aircraft broke apart and plunged into the sea. Two crewmen escaped by parachute and survived, two others bailed out without chute deployment and Anthony and five of his fellow airmen went down with the aircraft. Their remains have never been recovered.

Anthony Goode was twenty-eight years old. Today, he is among the more than 17,000 Americans whose names are inscribed on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines. Although the wreckage of his aircraft has never been found, his sacrifice—and that of the crew with whom he served—endures through the history they helped write and the legacy they left behind. This story honors not only Anthony's life, but also the courage of those who flew into combat knowing that every mission carried the possibility of not returning.