Richard S. "Dick" George

1922 - 2014

Retired USAF Col. Richard S. "Dick" George, 91, passed away Friday, Sept. 5, 2014, in Fort Worth. Funeral: 2 p.m. Tuesday at Genesis United Methodist Church in Fort Worth with Dr. Jim Conner officiating. Burial will be at the Columbarium at Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery at a future date with full military honors. Memorials: May be made to Genesis United Methodist Church or a charity of your choice. Colonel George was a Texas son who was born in Austin on Sept. 30, 1922. He was married three times during his life. He married Margaret Antoinette Beusoleil of Colorado Springs, Colo., during his early military service. She preceded him in death in 1964 after 18 years of marriage. He then married Julia I. Gray in 1966 while stationed at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska. They were married 35 years before she preceded him in death in 2001. He met Ann B. Goddard at the Methodist church and married her in 2008. While attending the University of Texas in 1942, he joined the Aviation Cadet Program and graduated in Pilot Class 44-F at Pecos. Following a B-17 tour in England with the 452 Bombardment Group, 731st Bombardment Squadron, he returned to the U.S. for B-26 training. Fortunately, the Japanese learned of his potential arrival in the Far East and signed an armistice. Not wanting to lose his expertise, he became involved with instructing B-29 flight engineer cadets and airplane mechanics at Amarillo AAF and Keesler AAF until 1947. He was also a T-6 and T-11 flight instructor in the reserve training program and flew F-51s, B-26s and C-47s on the Berlin Airlift. The Soviets soon learned that trying to starve a city in the face of the USAF airlift would fail and ended the blockade of Berlin. A short stint at Lackland AFB preceded his next assignment with the 49th Maintenance Group at K-2, Taegu, Korea (1950-1951) where he flew C-47 missions throughout the Korean peninsula. As the Chinese hordes moved into North Korea, he flew many evacuation flights to remove stranded U.S. military units from potential annihilation. His was the last USAF aircraft to depart the North Korean capital of Pyongyang before it fell to the Chinese. Colonel George's 1951 return to the States was to an assignment at Carswell AFB. He was made commander of the 11th Air Installation Squadron (AIO). This position lasted only six months before his extensive four-engine pilot time was discovered and he was redirected to the 436th Bomb Squadron to fly the B-36. After 2,600 hours and seven years in transfer to Columbus AFB in 1959, the crew was assigned to the Wing Standardization Board. After 2,000-plus flying hours as a pilot in command, he was earmarked for increased responsibility and selected to spend a year at the Command & Staff College at the Air University in 1961. Upon graduation, he moved to Offutt AFB and the staff of the Strategic Air Command in the Plans Directorate. While there, he attended college in his spare time and graduated from the University of Nebraska, Omaha. In 1967, he was promoted to colonel and assigned to Westover AFB as director of operations for the 57th Air Division. Europe beckoned after he graduated from the Air War College in 1969 and he spent the next four years as director of the Plans & Programs, 17th Air Force, and Chief Plans Branch, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE). When he retired in 1974, he was director of Logistics, 19th Air Division, Carswell AFB. Survivors: He is survived by his wife, Ann; brothers, Frank W. George of Birmingham, Ala., and Philip George of San Angelo. He also leaves behind four children, Ricca A. Conner and her husband, Rev. Sidney D. "Butch" Conner, of Vivian, La., Charles D. and Pam Gray of Shreveport, La., Paula C. Gray of Mount Pleasant and Oran Prater Gray of Dallas; five grandchildren; and 14 great-grandchildren.