Franklinton American Legion Post 5240 American Legion Road, Franklinton, NC 27525 |
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George joined the US Navy on 20 July 1959 at 17. He started his active duty at Illinois's Great Lakes Basic Training facility. After boot camp, George transferred to the USS Forrestal CVA-59 and spent time on the deck force before moving to Fox Division. During a cruise of the Mediterranean, he received transfer orders to Bainbridge, Maryland, where he attended Fire Control Technician training. After completing training at Bainbridge, he transferred to the Great Lakes Training facility for advanced education. Upon completion of advanced education, he transferred to the USS Towers DDG-9, which had just been commissioned at Seattle and was being fitted at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington. After a shakedown cruise to Lima, Peru, the ship was stationed at its home port of San Diego, California. During this shakedown cruise, George became a Shellback as he crossed the equator near the Galapagos Islands. George's next assignment was to the USS Gurke DD-783. After taking part in the nuclear testing at Johnson Island, George mustered out of active duty in San Diego on 4 September 1962.
George married a childhood friend in 1964, and they have three children and five grandchildren. George retired from IBM in 2003 after 38 years of service.
George joined Post 52 in 2007 and has held the following Post positions: Post Vice Commander from 2014-2015; Post Commander from 2015-2018; Post Historian from 2010-2014, and again from 2018 to present; Web Master since 2010; and Assistant Editor of Post Newsletter. He served as District Vice Commander from 2010-2011, as District Commander from 2011 until 2015, and again from 2018-2019. George has been a member of the Post Executive Committee since 2010 and was appointed chairman of the Post By-Laws Committee in 2012; a member of the Department Constitution and By-Laws Committee 2014-15; a member of the 2014 National Convention Rules and Credentials Committee and the Department Convention Rules and Credentials Committee 2017-to present and was also appointed to the Department Drug and Alcohol Abuse Committee 2018-to present. He is currently vice-chair of the committee. George is a member of the Post Firing Squad and past chair of the Post-Americanism Committee. Currently, George maintains the Post website and Facebook page. He was honored as the Post Legionnaire of the Year for 2013-2014.