George Franklin Heberer

1922 - 2022

Heberer, George Franklin

August 14, 1922 - July 14, 2022

George Franklin "Frank" Heberer, age 99, of Greensboro, passed away July 14, 2022. He was born on August 14, 1922, and was a member of what has sometimes been referred to as the greatest generation, living through the greatest depression and serving his country as a member of the armed forces in World War II. Frank was the son of the late Floyd Earl Heberer and Ruby Railsback Heberer. He was born in the home of his maternal grandparents in McComb, Mississippi. At the time, Frank's father was farming a leased parcel of land near the small town of Canton, MS, where conditions were very primitive. The farm had no indoor plumbing, running water, or electricity. The family would fetch drinking water from a well in the backyard. In 1937, the price of cotton was so low that the farm couldn't be operated profitably. Frank's father decided to move his family to Canton with its modern convenience and higher wages. So, in 1937 Frank entered Canton High School as a junior. It was here in Canton High School that Frank's lifelong love of tennis began and he also lettered in basketball. Frank graduated as an honor student in May 1939. Through the first ten years, Frank rode a school bus, sometimes a round trip to Farm Haven Consolidated School. In high school, Frank first met and dated Elizabeth Shipley who was to become his wife. Following graduation, in the fall he entered the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss). When he arrived and watched the state of the tennis team and their practice, Frank retired his tennis racquet. In 1943, he graduated from Ole Miss with a business degree and a major in accounting. He also completed the four-year reserve officer training ROTC while at Ole Miss and was a member of the Delta Sigma Pi business fraternity. In August 1943, Frank was inducted into the Army at Fort McClennan in Alabama and immediately was sent to Fort Benning, Georgia to attend the infantry officers' candidate schools. On December 30, he completed the course and was a commissioned 2nd lieutenant in the US Army, then ordered to Camp Fannin in Tyler, Texas. On "D" Day, June 6, 1944, Frank received orders to proceed to the European Theater of Operations as a replacement officer. After moving through Fort Meade, Maryland, and Camp Kilmer, NJ then by convoy to England, Frank landed on the Continent in July of 1944. He was assigned to the 30th Infantry Division and served as a platoon leader in Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 120th Infantry Regiment. During this time, the Germans were retreating through the north of France, Holland, and Belgium back to Germany with the American armies in hot pursuit. We chased the Germans through Belgium and then captured Ft. Eben-Emael from the Germans. I have kept as a reminder of this time a Nazi flag that was on top of the fort that was captured. We chased them to the Siegfried line of tank traps and pill boxes on the Netherlands border of Germany. This was about the 15th of September: then we had to stop at the border and wait for the supply trains to join us. On October 3, we fought our way into Germany and captured the city of Aachen. We continued to apply pressure on the Germans until they were behind the Ardennes forests.

By Sunday we were trucked into Belgium to start setting up blocking positions in the Stavelot-Malmedy Area. The German tanks ran out of gas and we were able to stop the advances and resume the offensive attack. When Christmas day came, I sustained a shrapnel wound to the back and was evacuated promptly from the battlefield. I found myself on a hospitalized journey through Paris by infirmary ship across the English Channel to a clinic in England to recuperate. I had survived the Battle of the Bulge, Thank God!

I had received what those fighting on the front lines called a "million dollar wound." This was a wound that you got out of combat and didn't cripple you for life. Once you were on the front lines, four possible things were going to happen to you:

1. The war would be over;

2. You would be killed;

3. You would have a wound so serious that you would be crippled for life; or

4. You would get a "Million Dollar Wound" wound.

I was out of the hospital by May and en route back to my unit when Germany surrendered. The 30th division was to be one of the first to invade Japan, so the Division was scheduled to be one of the first to be shipped to the states. In early August, we boarded the Queen Mary. The crossing was five days and I was finally home with a 45-day leave.

Though eligible for discharge, Frank elected to remain on active duty and was posted to the US occupying force in Southern Germany, US Constable in August 1946. Frank returned to the states in May of 1948 for honorable discharge from active military service, but remained in the Active Army Reserve for the next 28 years, where he received regular promotions. After his reserve status was fulfilled, he retired as a full colonel. Awards and decorations for his honorable service include Combat Infantry Badge, Bronze Star Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster that indicated a second award and "V" device for valor, Purple Heart Medal, European Africa Middle East (EAME) Medal with Battle Stars for Northern France, Rhineland and Ardennes Campaigns, American Defense Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Victory Medal, World War II Occupation Medal, Arm Reserve Medal and Belgium Forager that was awarded for participation in the 30th Division's liberation of Belgium from the Germans.

Frank and Elizabeth were high school sweethearts. Elizabeth was born in Pittsburgh, PA. Her father was an electrical engineer and his company sent him to Scotland in the early 1930s to supervise the construction of a tanker. Elizabeth and her mother went with him, leaving her three younger brothers with her grandparents in Canton, MS. The family was preparing to leave Scotland when her father had a heart attack and died instantly. There was no reason to go back to Pittsburgh, so they made a new home in Canton. It is interesting to note that if Elizabeth's father had not died, if her grandfather had not been working in Canton, and our father had not moved to Canton, Elizabeth and I would never have met. Elizabeth graduated from Millsaps College in Jackson, MS, and in September 1944 accepted a job with Delta Airlines in Atlanta. Elizabeth and I began to correspond and when I was discharged from the army in 1948, I found that she had been a matron of honor or a bridesmaid in seven weddings. She had rejected 2 proposals of marriage. Then I soon realized that I better put an end to this. On August 22 in 1949, we were married in the First Presbyterian Church in Canton and began a beautiful marriage that was to last more than 70 years. Elizabeth was able to transfer to Delta Airlines in Jackson, MS. We began our married life in Jackson, MS where Frank became a controller trainee in the Sears Roebuck Company retail store. In 1950 Frank was appointed controller of the Greenville, Mississippi retail store with subsequent assignments as controller of the Winston-Salem and Charlotte retail stores. In 1965 Frank was promoted to the Greensboro regional office with supervisory authority of retail store controllers in several state regions. In 1970 he was appointed controller of the Greensboro catalog order plant, a position he held until retirement in 1987. In 1965, when Frank moved to Greensboro and joined the Starmount Forest Country Club, he began to play tennis again after a hiatus of 26 years. Frank's game was doubles, where he soon began to enter tournaments sanctioned by the US Tennis Association and the local state southern section national level. Early on, Frank realized that to be successful he would need a player that met his skill level. He was able to get such partners throughout the 42 years of his competitive tennis with some success. Frank retired from tennis in 2006 at the age of 86. Shortly after moving to Greensboro, he joined the First Presbyterian Church and remained a member until his passing. Frank was preceded in death by his parents, his wife of 70 years, and his brother Charles Lee.

He is survived by sons, Frank Shipley of the home and Jack Bachelder of Raleigh; grandson, Drew Ansley Heberer of Raleigh; great-granddaughters, Ansley Margaret Heberer and Grier Elizabeth Heberer of Raleigh; and numerous other loving family and friends.

Service information pending.

Frank will be interred at Arlington National Veterans Cemetery with his beloved wife, Elizabeth.

The family would also like to thank the entire VA team out of Kernersville, NC, the medical care staff at Moses Cone Hospital, and the healthcare team at Heartland Rehab Center for their excellent care and treatment of Frank during his final weeks.

Triad Cremation and Funeral Service

2110 Servomation Rd.