Colonel George Everill Pierce was born in Greenfield, Massachusetts February 2, 1907. He graduated from Turners Falls High School before attending The Worcester Polytechnic Institute and earning a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. While at the Institute he was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity as well as the cross country and class track teams. After graduation Colonel Pierce was a production engineer with Worthington Pump & Machinery Corp. for three years. He received an appointment as an aviation cadet, U.S. Army Air Corps in 1933, and received his training at Randolph, Kelly, and Brooks Fields in San Antonio, Texas where he met and married his wife Mary Dorothy Goodrich. After receiving his commission as second Lieutenant he was stationed at Hamilton Field, California where his son George E. Pierce, Jr. was born and later at Maxwell Field Alabama where his daughter Dorothy L. Pierce was born. Col. Pierce was rapidly promoted thereafter and was the commanding officer of the Torpedo School at Elgin Field for a year when the B-25C-1 Mitchell, AAF Ser. No. 41-13118 he was piloting crashed into the Gulf of Mexico 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Destin, Florida on October 19, 1942. He left behind his wife, two children, two sisters, and three brothers. One brother, Arthur J. Pierce was also an airman who served during WWII and eventually achieved the rank of Brigadier General. Eglin AFB Auxiliary Field #2 (also known as Site C-3) is named Pierce Field in honor of Col. Pierce.