George L. Fox was born March 15, 1900 in Lewistown, Pennsylvania. In addition to George,
he had a sister Gertrude and brothers Bert, Leo and John. When George was just 17, he left
school, and with strong determination, convinced the military authorities he was 18 and
joined the ambulance corps in 1917, shortly after the United States entered World War I.
George was placed in the ambulance corps and shipped to Camp Newton D. Baker in Texas.
On December 3, 1917 George embarked from Camp Merritt, New Jersey, and boarded the
US Huron enroute to France. As a medical corps assistant, he was highly decorated for
bravery and was awarded the Silver Star, Purple Heart and the French Croix de Guerre.
Upon his discharge, he returned home to Altoona, completed his last year in high school, and
went to work for the Guarantee Trust Company. In 1923 he entered Moody Institute in
Illinois, where he married at Winona Lake, Indiana. After he withdrew from Moody, he
became an itinerant preacher in the Methodist faith. A son, Wyatt Ray, was born on
November 11, 1924. After several successful years, George held a student pastorate in
Downs, Illinois. He entered Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington in 1929 and
graduated with an A.B. degree in 1931. Again as a student pastorate in Rye, New Hampshire,
he entered the Boston University School of Theology. George was ordained a Methodist
minister on June 10, 1934 and graduated with a S.T.B. degree. He was appointed pastor in
Waits River, Vermont. Their second child, Mary Elizabeth, was born shortly thereafter. In
1936, he accepted a pastorate in Union Village, Vermont. His next calling was in Gilman,
Vermont where he joined the Walter G. Moore American Legion Post. He was later
appointed state chaplain and historian for the Legion.
In mid 1942, George decided to join the Army Chaplain Service and was appointed July 24,
1942. He went on active duty August 8, 1942, the same day his son Wyatt enlisted in the
Marine Corps. He was assigned to the Chaplains school at Harvard and then reported to the
411th Coast Artillery Battalion at Camp Davis. He was then reunited with Chaplains Goode,
Poling and Washington at Camp Myles Standish in Taunton, Massachusetts and their fateful
trip on the USAT DORCHESTER. Chaplain Fox was posthumously awarded the Purple
Heart and Distinguished Service Cross.