COMES A Soldier’s Whisper is proud to honor Walter B. George who passed away in 2004.
Walter served during WWII in the Pacific Theatre and was assigned to the USS Dixie AD 14, a destroyer tender.
He was a salvage diver and made 2 official dives before being injured. He told a haunting story of being on watch when their convoy sailed through a debris field. It was later determined that they had no way of knowing. The debris field consists of fuel oil and materials that do not sink when a ship is bombed or torpedoed. In Walter’s case, there was no material that identified the field as friendly or enemy.
The USS INDIANAPOLIS had just delivered the parts for the atom bombs to Tinian, a base where the bombers departed on their bombing missions over Japan. The ship was sailing alone and was torpedoed and sunk very quickly and never raised an alert. Very few made it to life boats and most went down with her. However a bunch of sailors floated without life preservers in shark infested waters for 3 days prior to being discovered by accident. The INDY was on a secret mission and nobody knew she was overdue. Walter’s ship and convoy had passed through what was later determined to be her debris field. In retrospect, they felt if they would have given it a close look many lives could have been saved. This haunted my Walter for many years…
He took part in the liberation of the Philippines Islands and was later discharged after the war. He went to work for the California fish and game as a trapper and was also a deputy game warden for over 30 years.
Walter and his wife raised 6 children, one girl and five boys, all of whom have served for their country.
We invite you to share your family photos &/or stories of those who served, so we may feature and honor them on Comes A Soldier’s Whisper.
Comes A Soldier’s Whisper remembering our history and veterans one day at a time.
God Bless all who serve and keep us safe.
Jenny La Sala
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