John B. George

John B. George prepared at Lakeview High School in Princeton, Mo., and went to Princeton University after service in the U.S. Army infantry from 1941 until 1947.

He served in the Pacific and the China-Burma-India theaters and held the rank of lieutenant colonel when demobilized. George served with the 132nd Infantry Regiment/23rd Infantry Division "Americal!" on Guadalcanal and the famed Merrill's Marauders (5307th Composite Unit) in Burma.

At Princeton he majored in politics, graduated with highest honors, and won the Atwater Prize in politics. He was a member of Cottage Club.

After graduation, Col. George spent four years at Oxford and then went to British East Africa to study the area and its institutions for four years. Returning to the United States, he settled in Washington, D.C. as executive director of the Institute of African-American Relations. He later joined the State Department’s Foreign Affairs Institute as a consultant, lecturer, and writer on African affairs. Col. George also wrote articles on big-game hunting and nonfiction adventure for several magazines including The Saturday Evening Post.