George Honts

Birthplace: Eastern Washington

Branch of Service: Army

Theater of Operation: European

Enlisted / Commissioned: Jan 1, 1972

Highest Rank: Lieutenant

Honored By: Widow, Evelyn (Honts) English

Lieutenant George William Honts was born and raised in eastern Washington State. He was commissioned in the US Army in 1942 and assigned to Ft. Ord, CA in 1942. George met and married Evelyn Semenza on Dec 24, 1942. He was deployed to England at Christmas, 1943 and participated in the cross-channel invasion of Normandy in June 1944. He served as a medical officer and, later, with a Judge Advocate General’s group in the European theater. He wrote many beautiful letters to Evelyn from England and Europe, vividly describing his experiences and touchingly expressing his love for his wife. In 2002, selected letters were incorporated into an operatic libretto which was performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood Music Center, Massachusetts. Lt. Honts was killed in a German attack on Allied forces crossing the Rhine River on March 24, 1945. George was buried at the United States World War II Memorial in the Maartgraten National Cemetery in Heerlen, Holland.