World War II Honoree

George William Weaver

Branch of Service

U.S. Navy

Hometown

Vinita, Craig County, Oklahoma

Honored By

Robert S. Cox

VOLUNTEERED FOR MILITARY SERVICE TWO WEEKS BEFORE HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION. ENTERED MILITARY SERVICE IN 1943, AT AGE 18 AFTER GRADUATING FROM HIGH SCHOOL. ENLISTED IN THE U.S. NAVY TO AVOID BEING DRAFTED AND POTENTIALLY HAVING TO SLEEP IN A FOXHOLE. TRAINED AS AN AVIATION MACHINIST’S MATE. SERVED INITIALLY IN THE AMERICAN THEATER DURING THE WAR. ASSIGNED AS PART OF A 5-MAN CREW ABOARD A PBY ‘CATALINA’ LONG-RANGE FLYING BOAT WITH THE CALLSIGN 'FOX PETER 205' (FP-205). THE PBY WAS CAPABLE OF WATER LANDINGS AS WELL AS ON LAND. AS A PLANE CAPTAIN, HE WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR PERFORMING MAINTENANCE WHEN ON THE GROUND AND OPERATING AN INSTRUMENT PANEL AS A FLIGHT ENGINEER IN FLIGHT. OFTEN, PROBLEMS IN FLIGHT, SUCH AS FUEL FLOW AND MANAGEMENT, COULD BE SOLVED FROM HIS STATION LOCATED JUST BEHIND THE COCKPIT. HE ALSO ASSURED THAT AMMUNITION WAS LOADED ABOARD THE AIRCRAFT FOR MISSIONS. HIS UNIT WAS BASED IN THE AMERICAN THEATER AT CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS AND WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR ANTI-SUBMARINE WARFARE, SCOUTING, AND SEARCH AND RESCUE MISSIONS. HIS AIRCRAFT CARRIED TWO 500-POUND BOMBS AND MOUNTED A .30-CALIBER MACHINE GUN IN THE NOSE. HE PARTICIPATED IN THE ANTISUBMARINE CAMPAIGN. HIS UNIT OPERATED PRIMARILY IN THE GULF OF MEXICO TO PROTECT ALLIED CONVOYS FROM GERMAN U-BOATS AND TO SEARCH FOR AND RESCUE SURVIVORS AT SEA. THESE CONVOYS, TRANSITING THE GULF BOUND FOR THE EUROPEAN-AFRICAN-MIDDLE EASTERN THEATER AND VIA THE PANAMA CANAL TO THE ASIATIC-PACIFIC THEATER, CARRIED THE LIFEBLOOD FOR THE ALLIED PROSECUTION OF THE WAR. MANY SHIPPING-LANE MISSIONS WERE FLOWN AT NIGHT WHEN THE U-BOATS HAD TO SURFACE TO RECHARGE BATTERIES AND COMMUNICATE, AND WERE THEREFORE MOST VULNERABLE. LATER, PERFORMED THE SAME DUTIES OVERSEAS IN THE ASIATIC-PACIFIC THEATER ALONG THE PACIFIC RIM, INCLUDING IN THE SOLOMON ISLANDS. AWARDED THE NAVAL AIRCREW INSIGNIA, AIR MEDAL, GOOD CONDUCT MEDAL, AMERICAN CAMPAIGN MEDAL WITH 1 BRONZE SERVICE STAR, ASIATIC-PACIFIC CAMPAIGN MEDAL, AND WWII VICTORY MEDAL. HONORABLY DISCHARGED IN 1946, WITH THE RATING OF AVIATION MACHINIST’S MATE SECOND CLASS AND ISSUED THE WWII HONORABLE DISCHARGE LAPEL PIN. CONTINUED IN U.S. NAVY ACTIVE AND RESERVE SERVICE AFTER THE WAR UNTIL HIS RETIREMENT WITH THE RATE OF PETTY OFFICER FIRST CLASS.