George quit school at 14 and went to work with road and bridge building crews as a water boy and 'gofer'. Over the next several years he became highly skilled as a bulldozer, grader, crane, dragline and scraper operator. He worked on many construction sites and projects, including the Panama Canal. At the time of Pearl Harbor he was working on the new Army air base by Garden City, Kansas. He joined the Navy Construction Battalion 'Sea Bees'. With his age and experience he enlisted as a Petty Officer First Class. He and his wife Nellie moved their trailer house from Garden City to Wichita, parking it in Nellie's sister's back yard for the duration of the war. Nellie went to work at Boeing as a 'Rosie the Riveter'. George took the train to California for basic training. After a brief leave he shipped out to the South Pacific, Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, etc. for the next three years. He was discharged as a Chief Machinist's Mate and returned to Wichita. He worked on many projects throughout Kansas including the missile sites and the 'Big Ditch' flood control channel. He retired in 1977 after a nearly fatal accident in a scraper rollover at a dam project. He and Nellie traveled and enjoyed life for the next fourteen years. George was proud to be an American, proud to be a Sea Bee veteran, and proud of his Operating Engineer career. He was an important member of the 'Greatest Generation'.