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Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Sponsor

Honored by:
Mr. Stephen Lauman

The first airplane that GWL got to see up close on the ground was a Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny", at an airstrip outside of Ithaca, NY, in 1925, when he was ten years old. This experience began an avid, lifelong interest in aviation.

In August 1939 GWL enlisted in the US Army Air Corps, at Chanute Field, Illinois. His first choice of MOS was "Aircraft Mechanic", and he was put on a six-month waiting list for training. He discovered he could start training right away if he changed his choice to "Radio Operator", which he did, shortly before the outbreak of WWII.

In 1943 GWL was accepted into the Air Corps OCS and earned a Reserve officer's commission (2Lt), and assigned Communication Officer duties. In April 1944 he was married to Ruth Kuhn at Luke Army Airfield, Arizona. Three months later GWL was posted north of Florence, Italy, as commander of 2 Instrument Landing System units. In November 1945 he returned to Arizona and elected to remain in the Air Corps Reserve.

In 1948 GWL was called to active duty, in the newly established US Air Force, and in a short time promoted to Captain. In 1949 he was posted to Japan and then to Korea in 1951, as a Communications Officer. In 1952 GWL returned to USA and was posted to the Caribou Air Force Station Maine, where he was promoted to Major; then transferred to Montgomery, Alabama; and finally to San Clemente Island, California.

In the 1950's GWL served in the Arizona Civil Air Patrol (CAP) as a Communications Officer, Captain. He continued serving in the US Air Force Reserve until 1975, when he retired from over 30 years military service with the rank of Lt Colonel. In 1976 he retired from 20 years as R/W Agent with the Arizona Department of Transportation.

In the late 1980's and 1990's he built and operated a private hangar and airstrip on his property near Morristown. Arizona. GWL's desert aerodrome was also used by friends' ultra-lights and small experimental aircraft, and by the Wickenburg R/C Model Airplane Club.

Lt Col. George W. Lauman (retired) is a participating member of EAA, ESA, Beaver Creek Kiwanis, the Arizona Flywheelers Club, and the Retired Officers Association. He is still very enthusiastic at 95 years old and is one of the few people still participating in aviation activities in the USA whose life has spanned almost every event in the history of American motorized flight and space exploration.