GEORGE E. SCHMITT, LTJG, USN

George Schmitt '53

Date of birth: May 11, 1930

Date of death: September 14, 1955

Age: 25

Lucky Bag

From the 1953 Lucky Bag:

GEORGE EARL SCHMITT

Dayton, Kentucky

Upon graduating from high school, George journeyed to Great Lakes for boot training, then to Bainbridge to prep for the Naval Academy. Gifted with art ability, it was not uncommon to see him scratching away at some work in that field (if he wasn't out on the field tossing passes for the Fifth Batt football team.) Meticulous in his personal appearance, mirrors were a thing of the past when "Borg" has on his grease shoes. Being pretty savvy, George was often found tutoring some poor bucket. The only thing that worried his buddies was wmether or not 'Smitty' would ever find the right girl, since he always had so many from which to choose.

Obituary

From The Cincinnati Enquirer on September 15, 1955:

Navy Lt. (j. g.) George Earl Schmitt, 25, son of Mr. and Mrs. George H. Schmitt, 422 Third Ave., Dayton, Ky., was killed yesterday at Bellville, Tex., when his jet Panther plane crashed. He was a student pilot at the naval training station there, the Associated Press reported. Lieutenant Schmitt enlisted in the .Navy in 1948 folowing graduation from Dayton High School, where he was a football sta r. His family was notified of his death yesterday in an official telegram from Capt. H. M. Avery, commander, Chase Field, Belleville, which said the youthful flier was killed Wednesday in an airplane accident. During his senior year at the Naval Academy he attained the rank of midshipman, serving as a platoon commander. In the Navy he received his class letter on the brigade football championship team. He made his first solo flight In a jet aircraft in October, 1954. No details of the crash were given in the message to his parents. His father is an employee of a Cincinnati baking company. His mother, Mrs. Vera Schmitt, is a widely known singer in Northern Kentucky. Services will be in charge of the Vonderhaar & Stetter funeral home, Newport, Ky., after arrival of the body from the Texas Air Force Base. He is survived also by a brother, Roger Schmitt, who is a student at Dayton High School.

The date of the crash was September 14, 1955. He is buried in Kentucky.

Class of 1953

George is one of 62 members of the Class of 1953 in Memorial Hall.