Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans

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George Jordan

WWII | B Battery, 489th Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Self Propelled Battalion, 4th Armored Division, 3rd Army

In Arlon, Belgium, a nineteen year old George Jordan opted for some ice cream instead of warming whiskey. He still can't believe he made that mistake as he recalls the advance on Bastogne by his light armored unit in support of the 101st Airborne. As he rolled to a stop and stepped down from the halftrack, he was in a frozen stupor, and the next thing he knew, he was coming around in a hospital. (3:26)
George Jordan recalls the German execution of two clergymen and the retribution of General Patton it engendered. As the war wound down, he was fortunate enough to relax at a Bavarian resort with a German girlfriend. That almost caused him some trouble. (5:54)
George Keating

WWII | 731st Bomb Squadron, 452nd Bomb Group, 8th Air Force

His boyhood hero was Lucky Lindy, Charles Lindbergh. When the boy was grown, there was a war to fight and George Keating enlisted in the Air Corps one step ahead of the draft board. They made an aircraft mechanic out of him. (4:53)
George Keating shipped out on the Queen Elizabeth. There was no escort fast enough to keep up with her, so they traveled alone to England where his B-17 was waiting for him. He was on the ground crew and was not destined to be on the front lines, but there was that one time a lone German plane slipped through. (5:27)
Once, when the B-17 he was responsible for was heavily damaged, crew chief George Keating stayed with the plane for 72 hours until it was fixed. His job on the ground crew was tough, but he had a really good commander and a so-so assistant. (4:35)
The B-17 could take some serious damage and still fly. Crew chief George Keating describes two miraculous returns after direct hits from the dreaded German 88. The plane was superb, yet the young pilots suffered from inexperience and there were mishaps. (3:37)
George LaMar

WWII | Multiple Units

George LaMar was an Army Air Corps recruit in training when Pearl Harbor was attacked. The population of the west coast was immediately put on edge by the fear of further attacks. He was put into a squadron that consisted of old, slow bombers that went out on anti-submarine patrols with a curious payload. (This interview made possible with the support of ANDREW DESMARAIS.) (4:50)
In the early days of the war, George LaMar was an engineer/gunner who was assigned to deliver British bombers to Chiang Kai-shek's forces who were battling the Japanese invaders in China. The two man crews followed a long tortuous route which included a refueling stop in an extremely remote location. Part 1 of 4. (This interview made possible with the support of ANDREW DESMARAIS.) (5:50)
It was just the pilot and him when a storm hit the plane they were ferrying to India. George LaMar, who was the flight engineer, wound up bailing out and landing in utter darkness in shallow water. With his flashlight, all he could see around him was water. Part 2 of 4. (This interview made possible with the support of ANDREW DESMARAIS.) (7:04)
George LaMar was one of two aviators stranded after bailing out near the coast of India. They found some local officials but their sign language left something to be desired. Eventually, they got organized and he stayed behind to search for the downed plane. Part 3 of 4. (This interview made possible with the support of ANDREW DESMARAIS.) (4:36)