12Feb1922 – 7Apr1945
Edison Days
George attended Edison but did not graduate. No photographs of his time at Edison have been found to date.
Military Service
Rank: Staff Sergeant
Branch: United States Army Air Force
Unit: 349th Bomb Squadron – 100th Bomb Group – 8th Air Force
George’s path to the Army is unknown. Also unknown is the location where he attended Army basic training and gunnery training. What is known is that George was married with 4 children when he went off to war.
In late 1944 Geroge found himself as the tail gunner on a B-17 bomber enroute to USAAF Station 139 at Thorpe Abbots, England.
The flight to England included a layover in Greenland.
In England Jack and his crew joined the 349th Bomb Squadron of the famed “Bloody 100th” Bomb Group.
George flew his first mission on 20Jan1945 to Breisach, Germany. Over the next 11 weeks, over 20 more missions were flown. Targeted German cities included Berlin, Bremen, Munster, Munich, Ulm. Frankfort, and many others.
George earned 2 air medals during this period.
Also, during this time his 4 sons, and their 12 cousins made the newspaper back home in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
on 7Apr1945 George and his crew were in 1 of 38 B-17 bombers tasked to bomb oil storage facilities at Buchen, Germany. It was George’s 20th or 21st mission.
The following excerpt is from a 100th Bomb Group mission history.
As the American bombers were crossing the coast of Holland, elsewhere at the Stendhal Luftwaffe base, Hans Hermann had given the ‘Stand By’ order to the fighter pilots in his secret Rammkommando plan. In a desperate attempt to buy time for jet and fuel production, the plan called for ramming attacks on the American bombers with the goal of inflicting heavy damage and intimidating the crews. With only two guns protecting a bomber’s tail, the German pilots were expected to dive at a high speed into an American bomber while firing, bailing out and ramming the tail if necessary. When Herrmann gave the ‘Go’ signal, one hundred twenty of Germany’s inexperienced volunteer fighter pilots would take-off, going up against the long stream of American bombers coming their way.
With enemy aircraft reported in the area, the 100th stayed in formation for its turn at the IP. East of Hamburg and just after the IP, ten to fifteen German fighters began their attacks on the 100th’s formation. The first attack was made by a strafing ME-262 on the High squadron. Opening fire, the enemy plane was destroyed but not before it damaged William Howard’s ship [George was the tail gunner on this plane] forcing him out of formation. After feathering his engine to put out a fire and salvoing his bombs, the twenty-one year-old Bill Howard made a 180 degree turn, and dove into a cloud bank with his wheel well still on fire.
The plane could not make it back to England, and all 9 crew members bailed out of the plane over Germany.
The following pages are from the Army’s Missing Air Crew Report (MACR# 13716) for this incident.
Surviving crew members provided the following details about George via Individual Casualty Questionnaire Forms.
Records suggest that George was uninjured in the attack that damaged his plane, and that he successfully jumped from his plane. It was the opinion of his crewmates that upon landing, George was captured by German civilians and local Nazi party functionaries and murdered soon after.
At that late stage of the war, the German population was tired of the constant bombing by the Allied air forces. It is estimated that 1,000 or more Allied air crew may have met a similar fate as George.
Unfortunately, the Army did not know what happen to George and the other 8 crew members and he was reported as missing in action.
It would take nearly 1 year after he was shot down for the Army to declare that he was deceased.
George’s family held a memorial service in his honor on 28Apr1946.
In 1949 George’s family chose to have his remains returned to the Minnesota for reburial.
A reburial service was for George was held on 29Jun1949.
George is buried at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
