My dad, Don George, was born 11 August 1924 to Ruby (Woodward) and R. Frank George, in Newton, Kansas. He was the second to the youngest child born to them. They had 7 children of their own, Ruby had three from her previous marriage (he died in 1912) and Frank was also previously married (she died in 1909) they had five children. Sometime in the mid-1930s Frank went to California for work and sometime later he sent for Ruby and four of their last children still at home. They traveled cross-country in an old hearse Frank had bought from an old boss and he hired two men to drive the family to the Los Angeles area. Don did not complete high school, but did have a job working for a butcher when he was called up for the Army. He enlisted on 01 April 1943 in Los Angeles, California. Before Don was transferred to the 5th Ranger Battalion in C Company on 13 September 1943 he was assigned to Company L 289th Infantry Regiment of the 35th Division stationed at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri . He volunteered to join the newly activated 5th Ranger BN training at Camp Forrest, Tennessee. He said he had a short stint in Fort Benning, Georgia, then on to Fort Pierce, Florida, Fort Dix, New Jersey then to Scotland for more extensive training. I had a chance in July 2011 to visit Fort William, Scotland, where dad under went more training in preparations for D-Day. Don was promoted to Private First Class while training at Braunton Camp, England on 04 April 1944.
After surviving the assault on Omaha Beach, his unit went on to Maisy Battery, located several miles from Point du Hoc, Utah and Omaha Beaches, where they were able to capture the battery from the Germans. In July, he made his way west to the village of Flamanville, France and was sent out on patrol looking for German soldiers. On 09 July 1944 he stepped on an landmine and lost his right foot and lower portion of his right leg and broke the tibia of his left leg. He was cared for by the unit medics. He shows up on a 24 July 1944 roster of the 188th General Hospital in Gloucester, England. Don was treated there until the physician felt he was strong enough to fly back stateside on a medic-vac aircraft. Normally he would have been treated in a hospital on the east coast, but since his folks were in California, the Army sent him to Bushnell Medical Hospital, Brigham City, Utah. He arrived there on 10 October 1944 for rehabilitation and eventually was fitted with a new prosthetic leg.
While at Bushnell Hospital he meet our mom, Alice Laumb and fell in love. They were married on 12 May 1945 in Pasadena, California. After dad was discharged from the Army in Brigham City, Utah, on 13 September 1945, they traveled to Nampa, Idaho, to be near Alice’s family. He got a job with the Veterans Administration in March 1945 as a Clerk Typist, Docket and Information clerk until he became Chief of the Reception and Exemption Group in Boise, Idaho. His was promoted to Chief of the Prosthetics and Sensory Aides Department. This assignment included fitting and making various prosthetic devices for WWI, WWII, Korean and Vietnam War vets who lost a limb, sight, or hearing over the course of their career. His work would take him from Boise, Idaho to Reno, Nevada, Phoenix, Arizona, Manila, Philippines, Los Angeles, California and finally to Syracuse, New York. He died there on 24 June 1974 from a massive coronary heart attack. His body was transported back to Phoenix, Arizona and he was laid to rest on 01 July 1974 at Greenwood Memorial Park, Phoenix.
