Foil: 64 Panel: 1 Column: 2 Line: 90

Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:
Capt. Douglas Tookmanian

George went to work for Bell Aircraft in Niagara, N.Y., in the summer of 1941 at the tender age of 19 years old, a graduate of the Delahanty school of aviation in N.Y., N.Y. He performed a variety of tasks from aircraft assembly and quality control, to installing and bore sighting machine guns in the P-39 Airacobra fighter. In the fall of 1942, after proving his skills as a cracker jack machinist, He was recruited into the top secret P-59 Airacomet program, the USAAF's first jet fighter. He was tasked with machining the landing gear components for the P-59. He continued work on the project until when, in the spring of 1944, his best friend was killed in Aerial combat over Germany. George, deferred from the draft as a war essential worker, volunteered for military service and after being turned away from the AAF as a pilot, wangled his way into the USN's submarine service. His talent as a machinist helped him graduate first in his class from New London, CT. After serving on the USS Trutta (SS421), he left the Navy after WW2 ended and went to work for General Electric in NYC. GE was deep into the evolving field of jet engine blade technology. George was instrumental in machining those blades, including pioneering work in hollow blade technology using evacuation casting.
George is truly a member of the greatest generation. Perhaps his most famous achievement was marrying Catherine Scott in Nov. 1944 and raising five adoring children who revere their parents.