More detail on this person: George W. Aldridge
Jr., 69, a retired Army colonel who was a combat
veteran of three wars, died of cancer March 16 at
his home in Chevy Chase.
Col. Aldridge, who was commissioned in the
infantry in the early 1950s, entered the Army in
1941. He was serving in the U.S. 1st Infantry
Division when it landed on Omaha Beach in
Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944.
He was stationed in Japan when the Korean War
broke out. He was with the 1st Cavalry Division
when deployed to Korea in July 1950 with the first
U.S. units to reinforce U.S. and South Korean
forces.
In 1962, he commanded a helicopter company in
South Vietnam's Central Highlands. He was a
master Army aviator.
His last assignment, before retiring from active
duty in 1971, was Army operations center director
on the staff of the Army deputy chief of staff for
operations.
His military decorations included the Silver Star,
the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Bronze Star,
two awards of the Legion of Merit and 10 Air
Medals. He was a life member of the American
Legion, the Disabled American Veterans and the
Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Col. Aldridge was born in Queenstown, Md. He was
a graduate of the University of Nebraska and the
Army Command and Staff College at Fort
Leavenworth, Kan.
He was a county administrator and planner for
Queen Anne's County, Md., from 1971 to 1976,
then was manager of the Aspen Institute at Wye
Plantation, Md., from 1977 to 1979. He then
managed a ranch in Colorado and lived in Texas
before returning to the Washington area about
1987.
His marriages to Heather S. Allen and Joan H.
Fleming both ended in divorce.
Survivors include a son from his first marriage,
Army Col. George W. Aldridge III of Fort Riley,
Kan., and a grandson.
Washington Post, The (DC) - Saturday, March 19,
1994
This information was last updated 05/18/2016
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