The Life of George Sheffield

By Zoe Fatur

(This was written for an English class and it was supposed to be like a
newspaper article, so it seems very formal and impersonal. I wish I
could have written more emotionally. I know he loved it though.)


George Sheffield was born on July 24, 1938, and grew up in rural Marion,
Alabama. He was raised in the time of the Great Depression, and while
America fought and recovered from WWII. 


His family was very poor and had little material things, but they 
raised their own food and provided for themselves. As a child, his 
uncle served in WWII, and in one of the most important battles of the 
war, the Battle of the Bulge. He was a hero, and died serving his country 
in the battle. 


At just a young age, George saw his sacrifice and how 
important and hurtful war could be. Growing up, he was surrounded by 
military equipment and activities because of the war, primarily airplanes. 
From there, George fell in love with the idea of flying. He decided he 
wanted to be a pilot when he was older.


 Working diligently in school, he 
learned what he had to do to achieve his dream. He studied hard, taking 
the required courses in school so he could be a pilot. Then, he joined 
the Air Force to be a pilot, since he saw this as an honorable profession 
and he could serve his country. 


From a young age, George held the values 
of right and wrong close to his heart. His upbringing, schooling and time 
in the Boy Scouts taught him honor. He learned that putting others before 
yourself is what makes America so successful. He also held strongly the v
alue of service, the willingness to sacrifice; to give everything. George 
recalled, �Duty and honor are what are in your soul and heart.�


His long journey to achieve his dream began in 1957 when he headed off
to basic training. He first served as an Enlisted officer. Then, he went
to electronics school, and George was always a hard-working airman
throughout his time in the military, especially when he was deployed in
Vietnam in 1966, where he served as a C-130 pilot, a cargo plane. In
southeast Asia, his main mission was to fly the ?Stars and Stripes? , a
military newspaper, from Japan to Vietnam. After his crew delivered the
papers, they stayed in the country to fly combat missions hauling cargo.
George flew over 350 missions and logged over 300 hours. He was awarded
the Air Medal with Five Oak Leaf Clusters along with the Vietnam Service
Medal and the Vietnam Campaign Medal.


During his military career, the United States was not only engaged in
the Vietnam War, but also the Cold War with the Soviet Union. Those in
the military had a strong sense that it was their duty to protect their
country from the spread of Communism and the threat to freedom and their
way of life. For many, joining the military was how citizens supported
democracy and the United States. Yet when George returned home, soldiers
were not supported, and instead were shunned.


Despite this, he served as a Flight Instructor at a pilot training base.
George trained the new recruits to become pilots, just as he had been,
to be prepared to protect and defend their country, passing on the
legacy of their military service. Pilot school was important to him
because he wanted to share his knowledge and skills with others. Flying
was his life, and he strived to share his experiences. He believed that
both he and his students had knowledge to share with each other. Every
soldier in the military is taught to uphold the values of respect, duty,
and loyalty in everything they do. For George, his service in the
military and schooling of his peers was how he protected and supported
the United States.


After retiring from the Air Force as a Major, George worked for the San
Antonio Department of Flight Safety, and was a flight instructor for a
company which manufactured �personal� airplanes. In 1987, he began
another career as a commercial pilot for Continental Airlines.
Additionally, he was a member of one of the first 16 joint crews when
the airline merged with Texas International in the 1980s. In his 14
years working for the airline, he was based in many places, including
Houston, Cleveland, Guam and Manila, flying routes to over 10 different
countries, including Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, Japan, China, and
numerous Central American countries.


George now lived happily at his ranch in Boerne, Texas, and enjoyed
working with and flying model airplanes.

(Webmater note: I have broken some text into additional paragraph breaks to 
make it easier for our old eyes to read it. In the last paragraph I changed 
two words to past tense,)