Uncle George

To his surprise he discovered his pay was less as a second lieutenant than it ad been as a top sergeant. This didn’t matter;

there were other perks that came with being an officer, such as a staff car and perhaps a comely secretary. More important,

he had broken the barrier and knew there would be more promotions ahead, especially if the United States went to war.

An unexpected bonus came in June, 1940. His brother Simon was transferred from the Grand Coulee project to the same

project George was working on, where he became Jerry Tuttle’s assistant. For the next six months George was in a situation

he had long hoped for, he and Simon working together.

* * *

In February, 1941 George was summoned to Colonel McKay’s office. Not knowing what to expect he reported cap in hand.

“Have a seat, George,” the colonel said. “A situation has arisen and your name mentioned in connection with it. The War

Department, as do many of us, feels that sooner or later we will be drawn into the war in Europe and the powers that be want

us to prepare for it.

“As you know a military draft has already gone into effect and young men are being called into service. To help prepare

these men we need someone to train them. This is where you come into the picture. An officer is needed to set up and run a

training program for combat engineers. With your background you are the logical choice.

“You will need to go to command school at Fort Lee for several months and then report to Fort Benning to set up the

program.”

At the mention of Fort Benning George grimaced, bringing a smile to the colonel’s face. “Not your favorite place, is it

George?”

“I had some woman problems when I was stationed there but that was a long time ago,” George replied.

“Oh,” said the colonel. “I guess that’s one of the stories about you I haven’t heard; and there have been many stories.”

“Yeah, shotgun wedding and everything,” said George with a grin.

“What happened to your wife?”

“She had a miscarriage shortly after we married then we separated. She divorced me tan years later.”

Two months later George said goodbyes to Simon and Christine and their young daughter, Charlotte, to whom he had

become quite attached. When he arrived at Fort Lee he found it to be a bustling hive of activity, with many other young

officers posted there to attend command school.

Many of the officers were West Point graduates and much younger than George. Regardless of their previous experience all

of them were treated as if they were new recruits and had to go through what amounted to basic training. This included a

strenuous conditioning program that made George realize that, at forty, he was no longer the young stud he used to be.

He attended classes for four hours each day, all led by senior officers from various branches of the army. The classes

encompassed a myriad of topics but all involved the various problems upper echelon officers encountered from time to time

and ways of handling these problems.

George decided early in the course that he could forestall a number of the problems if he developed the proper morale and

esprit de corps among those under his command. As he talked with others at the school he found many agreed with this

philosophy.

In July he received his transfer orders for Fort Benning; with it came a promotion to captain.

George was delighted with his situation. He set up a training program for new recruits to learn the basics of military

engineering and was able to establish a staff of qualified instructors using men he had known and worked with in previous

engineering assignments. He was amazed to find he had the power to obtain transfers for these men and have them

reassigned to his command. With a few exceptions all of them jumped at the chance to work for him. Those who didn’t were

entrenched in a situation they didn’t want to change.

By the time George had all the transfers in place and his program set to roll the United States was at war. The bombing of

Pearl Harbor came as a surprise to many, but to a few old timers who had served in the Philippines it was no surprise. One

sergeant who joined George's staff claimed the Japanese had been militaristic for years and had long wished to expand their

empire.

* * *

George thrived in his leadership role. He worked diligently to attain the morale and spirit he thought necessary to have a

happy camp. Every morning he worked out with the recruits and made recommendations to the drill instructors when he

thought they were too easy or too strict. Rather than eat all his meals in the officers’ mess he made frequent visits to the

enlisted men’s mess ad asked his officers to do the same.

As classes progressed George often sat in and monitored the lessons, making sure to heap praise on the instructors and to

students who were doing exceptionally well.

There was no shortage of recreation programs either. George requisitioned an old mess hall and used it for indoor sports.

When Spring arrived an intramural softball league was organized. Also, a baseball team was formed to compete with other

disciplines at Fort Benning and other military facilities nearby.

The base also had a movie theater that showed the latest films every night and frequently, as a change of pace, had stage

shows featuring local talent. All free.

In his position as a ranking officer George had to be more circumspect with his social life than he had been in past situations.

He was in a position, and at an age, when he could no longer go to a local dance and pick up a floozy for a one night stand.

Also, at an earlier stage in his career he would not have hesitated at dating his young WAC secretary, but that was out of the

question now.

George found an unexpected solution to this problem. In his role as commanding officer of the Engineers detachment at Fort

Benning he met many people. One Columbus auto dealer, he discovered, was on the verge of bankruptcy. George decided

to bankroll the dealer for a share of the business, with one condition. He wanted to hire a business manager to bring the

business back to a profitable footing.

The manager he hired was an attractive divorcee in her early thirties who made no bones about having a romantic interest in

George. In no time he moved in with her and, for the first time in his life, was smitten. They lived together for the next two

years and talked of marriage but George convinced her it wouldn’t work. He was not the marrying kind.

* * *

In September of 1942 George received a commendation for his work at Fort Benning from the commanding general of the

Corps of Engineers. With the commendation came a promotion to major.

Then, in June, 1943 he was asked to take on a more challenging job, to be on General Eisenhower’s staff in England.

George would be commanding officer of the Corps in England and help in planning the coming invasion of France. Again,

another promotion was made, to lieutenant colonel.

Shortly after the invasion began many of the top ranking officers on General Eisenhower's staff were flown to Europe to set

up an advanced headquarters. The general and his immediate staff remained in England to work on war strategies for the

advanced staff to implement.

George became an advisor to an infantry battalion where he worked with the commanding general, Lieutenant General Carl

Ostend. His job called for planning the demolition and later replacement of key bridges near the front lines. To accomplish

this task a company of combat engineers was under his command. Many members of the company, now seasoned

veterans, were recruits under George’s command during their training at Fort Benning.

George was still in France when the war ended. In late August of that year he received word that hi mother had died and flew

to Little Rock for the funeral and to wrap up her affairs. For the first time in four and one half years he was reunited with

Simon, Simon’s wife Christine and daughter Charlotte. Now 8 years old, Charlotte was already showing signs of becoming a

great beauty. As was the case earlier in her life she wrapped George around her little finger.

When George returned to France he became one of the many military advisors to the French government in their

reconstruction program. Now a full colonel with almost 29 years of service in the army George began to seriously consider

retirement.

On February 12, 1947, two days after his 46th birthday, George became a civilian again.

* * *

At first he returned to Columbus, Georgia with thoughts of trying one more time with Margaret, who was still managing the car

dealership, and for a profit. They had written to each other regularly while George was overseas and each had suggested

they give it one more try.

Once again, it didn’t take. George got restless and, in spite of Margaret’s willingness to put up with his restlessness, George

moved out in late April. As a parting gift he signed his share in the dealership over to Margaret.

He returned to Washington State and for several months lived with Simon and his family in Richland. He soon realized he

was a drag on their home life and began looking for a place to call home.

He still owned many acres of farmland in eastern Washington, which he had leased to farmers for growing wheat crops. As

the farmers were prosperous in the glow of the post-war years George prospered also. He also had a sizable bank account

from the investments he had made prior to the war, so money was not a problem. The problem was, that after being away

from Washington State for more than six years he found the hot summers and constant wind not to his liking. He wanted a

more moderate climate in which he could immerse himself, possibly farming but not wheat farming.

Rather than settle in one community George decided to travel throughout the north-west exploring different areas, taking as

long as he needed to find an area that appealed to him. To facilitate this travel, and to have a place to live while he traveled,

he bought a surplus army bus. This he equipped with other surplus gear and built himself an early version of what would later

be called a motorhome.

He first drove west to explore the Seattle area, particularly the countryside northeast of that city. After talking to many people

George decided the winters would be too wet. Next, he drove south into Oregon and liked it much better but still wasn’t

satisfied.

His restless spirit then had him head east across Oregon, through the Idaho panhandle until he reached Libby, Montana.

This, he knew immediately, would be his next home. Libby was a small town with an appeal that had not been evident in

other small town he had visited. There was much open space to be explored and he had all the time in the world to explore it.

During the next two months, from late July into September of 1947, George familiarized himself with the town of Libby and

with the countryside around it. With the owner’s permission, and an exchange of money, the bus was parked behind a gas

station at the west end of town. From there George could walk to any place in town in a few minutes. The owner of the gas

station had a pre-war Ford station wagon which George bought for a good price. This he used as his transportation to

explore the outlying areas.

He got to know the bank manager, Charlie Talbott, when he opened an account there, transferring much of his balance from

the bank he used in Columbus, Georgia. Charlie, George had been told, was a wheeler-dealer who always came out ahead

in business transactions. George planned to use this trait of Charlie’s to his own advantage.

To do this, George also arranged for his income from various sources to be deposited to his account. Charlie was

impressed when he learned that George not only had his retirement pay, he also had income from his land investments in

Washington state and an even larger income from the stock market investments he had made prior to the war. George was

a wealthy man and had Charlie’s ear when he asked about investment possibilities in town.

“First,” George said to Charlie, “tell me about any land that’s available cheap, perhaps something you’re about to foreclose

on. Maybe I can arrange a deal where both you and the present owner can make a little money.”

George could almost see the avarice in Charlie’s eyes when he mentioned the possibility of money being made. Charlie got

out a large map and a bank record book that showed various holdings and the bank’s lien on each property.

“Here are three to start with,” said Charlie, and pointed at parcels of land on the map. “This one is 3.2 acres and is right at

the edge of town. It’s close to water and power. You would need to put in a septic tank. I happen to know the owner is

several years behind on his payments. Don't tell him I told you that; it’s confidential information.

“That might be too close to town but I’ll take a look at it. Do you happen to know what it’s appraised at?”

Charlie looked at another book and gave George a figure. “That’s appraised value, remember; about 20% of market value.”

Charlie gave George the same information for each of the other two properties. One was eight miles south of town on a

good road and consisted of 40 acres. It had a well, three structures and a septic system but was not close to power. The

third was 15 miles northeast of town with 22 acres. It had three structures also, an antiquated septic system, an old well and

no power.

“Okay,” George told Charlie, “I’ll look at all three and get back to you.”

The property close to town was along the main highway about a half mile west of the gas station where George’s bus was

parked. To George it would be a prime piece of commercial land if and when the town expanded that far west. He needed

to look at census information and town records to predict if that time was near enough in the future to speculate on.

The second piece of property, he decided, was too far from a power source and the cost of bringing electricity to it could be

prohibitive.

The third place, although further from town and even further from power, was in a picturesque setting and was just far enough

from everything to use as a retreat when he wanted to get away from town for a while. It was also ideal deer and bear country

if he ever decided to do some hunting. It would require a lot of work to make the buildings livable, and a new well would have

to be dug. With a stream flowing close by a well shouldn’t be a problem.

George researched census information and read town records and decided that the town was growing fast enough to make

the close-in property a valuable commodity in the near future.

He contacted a realtor who handled both properties and made an offer on each that was considerably below what the realtor

was asking. With the inside information he had wheedled out of Charlie Talbott his offer was also far below the market price

Charlie had given him.

“Your offer, in each case, is much too low,” said the realtor. “I doubt whether my clients would consider it.”

“Maybe, but talk to them anyway and let Charlie Talbott know what they say,” George replied.

Three days later George revisited Charlie and was told both offers had been rejected. “Did you really think you could get

them to sell that low?” Charlie asked.

“I didn’t get rich paying high prices,” George countered. “Call the realtor and tell him I’ll increase my offer 10%. Tell him that’s

my final offer.”

“Okay,” Charlie replied.

* * *

While Charlie Talbott continued to dicker for the two pieces of property George became acquainted with several other

business owners in town. One of them, the proprietor of the only grocery store was a grizzled old timer in his 70’s. Calvin

Vernor had owned and operated the small market for almost 40 years.

The market itself was a disappointment to George. Having lived most of his life in or close to a city he was accustomed to

shopping in a store that carried a full spectrum of products. Not so with this market; the shelves were practically barren. A

number of canned and bottled goods occupied the skimpy shelves; barrels contained sugar, flour and other staples. Meat

was a once a week rarity that was trucked in, when available, from Spokane, Washington, almost 150 miles away.

George questioned Cal Vernor about the scarcity of products and got the answer, “The only way I can carry more is to install

a new, larger refrigeration system, which I can’t afford. If I was a younger man I might take out a loan, but I’m too old for that

now. When I’m gone I guess someone else will have to start over.”

George replied, “Suppose I invested in a new refrigerator system for you. Would you be interested in forming a partnership?”

“That sounds interesting. You work out the details and let me know what you come up with.”

In checking with Charlie Talbott George discovered that Cal Vernor owned the building and the adjoining property outright.

He had no debts and had been widowed for ten years.

“However,” Charlie added, “the building is old and needs to be stabilized. It will need a great deal of work to bring it up to

snuff. There is a small apartment above the store; Cal lives there. If the building needs work his apartment will also.”

“I have another thought,” said George. “With the town growing as rapidly as it is, why not build a brand new market on that

land west of town? I’ll talk to Cal about it.”

George returned to Cal’s store and approached him with this idea. Cal, at first was reluctant to go along with George’s

thinking, but as George expanded on the idea Cal softened.

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