Harold H . George Harold Huston George ( 14 September 1892 – 29 April 1942 ) was a general officer in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II . He began his military career before World War I when he enlisted as a private in the 3rd New York Infantry Regiment . Joining the Air Service , he became an ace in France in 1918 , credited with five aerial victories . George , known as " Pursuit " George to distinguish him from Harold L . George ( " Bomber " George ) , commanded the 5th Interceptor Command ( Provisional ) on Luzon following the attack by Japan on the Philippine Islands , then directed the remnants of the Army ' s air forces in the Philippine Islands after Far East Air Force commander Maj . Gen . Lewis H . Brereton evacuated to Australia on 24 December 1941 . World War I service . George joined the New York National Guard on 5 July 1916 , during the crisis caused by Pancho Villa ' s raid on Columbus , New Mexico . His unit was federalized and deployed to the Mexican border , where he served as a sergeant until 5 October . George enlisted as an aviation cadet on 15 April 1917 , in the Aviation Section , U . S . Signal Corps . He completed flying training on the Curtiss biplane at Hazelhurst Field , Mineola , New York , received a rating of Reserve Military Aviator , and was commissioned a first lieutenant in the Signal Officers Reserve Corps ( SORC ) on 15 September 1917 . He went to Kelly Field , Texas , for additional training before going to Tours , France , as commanding officer of the 201st Aero Squadron in October 1917 . For six months he instructed other pilots at the Air Service AEF ' s training center at Issoudun . He then took pursuit pilot and gunnery courses himself and went into combat in August 1918 with the 185th Aero Squadron , and later duty with the 139th Aero Squadron . George arrived at the 139th Aero Squadron on 18 September 1918 . He scored his first two victories on 27 October , near Bantheville , France , he struck a formation of four enemy Fokkers , destroying two and driving the other two away . George shot down a Fokker D . VII single - handed and shared a second win with Robert Opie Lindsay . Two days later , he doubled again , sharing the wins over Fokker D . VIIs with Edward Haight and Karl Schoen . On 5 November , he shared his fifth victory over a D . VII with two other pilots , and became an ace . His Distinguished Service Cross came through after war ' s end , in 1919 After his return to the United States , George married Vera McKenna , whom he had met in Tours where she was working , on 5 April 1919 , in New York City . They had two children , Robert ( b . 1920 ) and Peggy ( b . 1922 ) . Between wars . After the war he returned to the United States for duty at Langley Field , Virginia . In November 1919 he became flight commander and commanding officer of the 19th Pursuit Squadron at March Field , California , serving until March 1922 . During that time he applied for and received a regular Army commission as captain , Air Service , in July 1920 . He went to Fort Douglas , Utah , for three years as Air Service Officer to the 104th Division . He was transferred to the Advanced Flying School at Kelly Field in March 1925 , as an instructor for two years , commanding officer of the 43d School Squadron , and Chief of Pursuit Instruction to July 1929 . He was then assigned to France Field , Panama for a two year tour , as operations officer and commanding officer of the 24th Pursuit and 7th Observation Squadron s , respectively . He returned to Langley Field in 25 June 1932 , as commanding officer of the 33d Pursuit Squadron , followed by assignments as intelligence and operations officer of the 8th Pursuit Group . In 1934 he commanded a sector of the Eastern Zone of Army Air Corps Mail Operation , responsible for Air mail operations on routes between Newark , New Jersey ; Cleveland , Ohio ; St . Louis , Missouri ; and Memphis , Tennessee . From September 1936 to June 1937 , he attended the Air Corps Tactical School at Maxwell Field , Alabama , followed in 1937 - 1938 by the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth , Kansas . His next assignment was to Selfridge Field , Michigan with the 1st Pursuit Group , where he commanded its 94th Pursuit Squadron . On 1 February 1940 , he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and named commander of the 31st Pursuit Group , newly activated at Selfridge . George commanded an aircraft - ferrying flight to Panama via Mexico and Central America , exactly 20 years after he had flown a DeHaviland plane to the Pacific Coast and return to New York in an early - day transcontinental reliability test flight . On 4 May 1941 , Brig . Gen . Henry B . Clagett arrived at Manila in the Philippines to command the newly created Philippine Department Air Force . George , promoted to colonel on 9 October 1940 , accompanied him as his chief of staff . As the War Department belatedly attempted to expand the defenses in the Philippines , the air forces evolved first into the Air Force , United States Army Forces Far East in August , and then into the Far East Air Force in November 1941 . Clagett was named commander of the 5th Interceptor Command ( Provisional ) and George remained as his chief of staff after a short stint as head of supply for FEAF . When Clagett was sent to Australia in mid - December , George inherited the pursuit command , and when Brereton and a small staff also left on 24 December , George became " de facto " commander of the remaining Army aviation units and personnel . He was promoted to brigadier general on 25 January 1942 , and made his command post at Mariveles on the Bataan peninsula . On 11 March 1942 , he was evacuated from Corregidor by PT boat along with Gen . Douglas MacArthur . General George was awarded the Silver Star for his actions on Corregidor . Death on duty . George was killed in a ground accident at Batchelor Field , southeast of Darwin , Australia on 29 April 1942 when a Curtiss P - 40 of the 49th Fighter Group lost directional control on take off and struck the parked Lockheed C - 40 in which he had just arrived at the base . George was struck in the head , possibly by one of the fighter ' s wheels , and killed instantly as were two others standing with him next to the Lockheed after disembarking . The AAF opened George Army Airfield , a flying training base at Lawrenceville , Illinois , in August 1942 . The base was declared surplus in September 1945 and sold . Victorville Air Force Base , California , was renamed George Air Force Base in George ' s honor in June 1950 .