GEORGE H. LOCHNER, 1LT, USAF

George Lochner '49

Date of birth: July 23, 1924

Date of death: May 29, 1951

Age: 26

Lucky Bag

From the 1949 Lucky Bag:

George H. Lochner

Bayside, New York

George came to the Academy straight from a year as a Navy control tower operator on San Nicolas Island off the coast of California, via the Fleet exams. He had a fairly easy time academically, having completed two years at R.P.I., and put his spare time to good use in soccer, where he not only acted as team clown, but succeeded in booting his way to the varsity squad his Plebe Year. He also found company and batt sports, such as lacrosse, fieldball, and pushball, wonderful opportunities to beat in the heads of his opponents. What with his wise cracks, fiery arguments, and completely fouled-up love life, George managed to keep us all I laughing for four years, and will be a welcome addition to the Fleet, even with his slightly fiendish sense of humor.

George H. Lochner

Bayside, New York

George came to the Academy straight from a year as a Navy control tower operator on San Nicolas Island off the coast of California, via the Fleet exams. He had a fairly easy time academically, having completed two years at R.P.I., and put his spare time to good use in soccer, where he not only acted as team clown, but succeeded in booting his way to the varsity squad his Plebe Year. He also found company and batt sports, such as lacrosse, fieldball, and pushball, wonderful opportunities to beat in the heads of his opponents. What with his wise cracks, fiery arguments, and completely fouled-up love life, George managed to keep us all I laughing for four years, and will be a welcome addition to the Fleet, even with his slightly fiendish sense of humor.

Loss

George was lost on May 29, 1951 when the plane he was aboard crashed near Waco, Texas. He was a flight instructor at the time, and was survived by his parents (information from Shipmate, August 1951).

He is buried in New York.

From the Brooklyn Daily Eagle on June 3, 1951:

Lieutenant Lochner, 27, son of George C. Lochner, a salesman for Tiffany, and Mrs. Anna Lochner … After graduating from Bayside High School in 1939 with top honors in science, he received a part-time scholarship to Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute. He enlisted in the Navy Dec. 11, 1942, and under the V-12 program majored in aeronautical engineering at Rensselaer Institute. Later he entered the Navy’s control tower school at Atlanta, where he was first in a class of 80. … Last Fall he completed his course in the pilot instructor school at Selma, Alabama. Besides his parents, he is survived by a sister, Mrs. Dorothy Inghram of Mason, Michigan.

Class of 1949

George is one of 40 members of the Class of 1949 on Virtual Memorial Hall.

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