George Alan Post

Another of the "Greatest Generation" has passed. George Alan Post, 84, Retired Senior Master Sergeant, U.S. Army Air Corps and later, U.S. Air Force, born March 13, 1922, in St. Petersburg, FL, passed from this earth on March 4, 2007. A resident of Yucca Valley, CA, SMSgt. Post spent over 30 years in the service of our country

and was a veteran of WWII. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross and numerous other decorations and awards, including Airman of the Year for 1957.

While in the Air Force, SMSgt. Post was one of the "Pre-Astronauts" who made some of the highest altitude parachute jumps recorded by the military. He was the jump master for Project Excelsior and was instrumental in testing new parachute designs, ejection systems, HALO techniques and water landing survival systems that are still in use today. Many considered him the greatest parachutist who ever lived.

He was recruited by NASA and was instrumental in many space missions, including Gemini, Apollo, Apollo-Soyuz, Skylab and the early Space Shuttle missions. He tested the limits of human endurance in centrifuges, isolation chambers and other devices needed to prepare for manned spaceflight. He also helped design and test space suits and other equipment that astronauts use to this day.

George Post was a 32 Master Mason and Shriner. He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Loretta; his brother, Andrew M. Post; his daughters, GeorgeAnn Afra, Cheri Post Campagna, Ina Sue Epps and his son, Richard Post; and four grandchildren, Samia Afra, Christopher Epps, Rachael Afra Lehman, and Vincent Campagna.

Visitation will be from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. on Monday, March 12, 2007 at Forest Lawn in Cathedral City, CA; with services to follow at 11:00 a.m. Interment will be at 1:45 p.m. at Riverside National Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Parkinson's Disease Foundation or to any Shriners' Hospital for Children.