GEORGE G. FETTERER, 1LT, USAF
George Fetterer '55
Lucky Bag
From the 1955 Lucky Bag:
GEORGE FETTERER
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
After graduating from North High School in 1950, George enlisted in the Fleet and came to Navy via Newport. He was known as G 2 in the halls of Bancroft. Center forward on the soccer team since his Youngster year, George never slighted sleeping, eating, sports, liberty, or dragging. His sincerity coupled with a friendly manner, a fine sense of humor, a repertoire of jokes and songs, and a gregarious nature make George's acquaintances his friends and his friends his buddies. Ask George what he liked best at Navy . . . liberty after football games.
He was also a member of the 16th Company Winter Leadership and the soccer team.
GEORGE FETTERER
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
After graduating from North High School in 1950, George enlisted in the Fleet and came to Navy via Newport. He was known as G 2 in the halls of Bancroft. Center forward on the soccer team since his Youngster year, George never slighted sleeping, eating, sports, liberty, or dragging. His sincerity coupled with a friendly manner, a fine sense of humor, a repertoire of jokes and songs, and a gregarious nature make George's acquaintances his friends and his friends his buddies. Ask George what he liked best at Navy . . . liberty after football games.
He was also a member of the 16th Company Winter Leadership and the soccer team.
Loss
George was killed when the B-52 Stratofortress he was aboard crashed short of the runway in Puerto Rico on February 1, 1960.
Other Information
From the Sheboygan Press, February 2, 1960:
A US Air Force officer from Sheboygan was among seven crewmen killed Mon. night in the crash of an Air Force B-52 Stratofortress at Ramey Air Base at San Juan, PR.
The victims included First Lt. George G. Fetterer, 27, son of Mrs. Eleanor Fetterer, 2235 N. 23rd St., and the late Benedict Fetterer.
The giant eight-jet bomber crashed just short of the air base runway during "touch and go" landing practices. An Air Force spokesman said the crash and the fire which followed demolished the huge plane, killing all crewmen aboard. Officials described the weather at the time as ideal. An investigation was ordered.
In addition to his mother, Lt. Fetterer is survived by his wife; three children; six brothers and three sisters.
Lt. Fetterer had been based at Ramey since last Oct. His family was with him in PR.
A 1950 graduate of North High School, Lt. Fetterer enlisted in the US Navy and was stationed at Great Lakes IL, Newport RI, and Bainbridge MD. While at Newport, he attended the Naval Academy Preparatory School and received a fleet appointment after completing a series of competitive examinations.
He entered the Naval Academy in July, 1951. During his four years at the school, he received three varsity letters in soccer. During his first class year, he served as company commander and platoon commander.
Following his graduation from the US Naval Academy in June, 1955, Fetterer was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the US Air Force. This was possible under an agreement between the service schools at Annapolis and West Point by which a man graduated from either can, upon application, be commissioned into the Air Force.
From researcher Kathy Franz:
A soccer ace, George shot equally well with his left and right feet. While in the Naval Reserve, he received a bronze soccer medal in 1947, a silver medal in 1948, and a gold medal in 1949.
In February 1950, George and physics classmate Dennis Bersch made a model house with heating and plumbing systems that was displayed in a local store window.
After high school, George enlisted in the U. S. Navy and received a fleet appointment to the Naval Academy.
He married Beverly Ann Lieding on June 3, 1955, at St. Mary's Church in Annapolis. Their children were Patrick, Michelle, and one other child.
In December he entered the Personnel Officer Course at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois. The course trained selective officers in the principles, concepts, and philosophy of planning, administering, and evaluating the effectiveness of personnel programs and activities.
In 1957 George was stationed at Norton Air Force Base in San Bernadino, California. Later that year he attended navigator's school in Harlingen, Texas.
The Sheboygan Press on February 8, 1960, carried the following article by Dwight Pelkin. “A fine man and a fine athlete left us the other day in the splintering crash of a B-52 bomber: George Fetterer . . . and those who knew him well tell us he was one of the best. He was, we guarantee, one of the finest soccer players this soccer town of ours has ever produced, doing such skilled things at Annapolis that he drew raves from his coaches about how so talented a boy could come from so small a city (practically all of the top soccer men, it seems are strictly big city products.) George got his start here with a great crop of juniors who were able to hold their own with many a Wisconsin veteran aggregation – and the long-timers like Kurt Dicker, et al, have genuinely grieved his passing. A real Sheboygan athlete.”
He is buried in Wisconsin.
Photographs
From the Lucky Bag
From his high school yearbook
From The Sheboygan Press on January 6, 1953
Memorial Hall Error
George's middle name was also George, per the Annual Register of the United States Naval Academy 1955-1956 and also the news article above. His middle initial is omitted in Memorial Hall.
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