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George Baxter Calhoun the son of
William Jennings Calhoun and Eda Zoellner Calhoun, was born in Pueblo, CO, on
Jan 12, 1929. He grew up in a rural area during the Great Depression and learned
to appreciate the values of family, church and country. He graduated from
Florence High School, Florence, CO in 1947. High school for him was an
enjoyable, memorable experience which culminated in his election as the Head Boy
(Co-Student Body President) his senior year.
After high school, George attended Colorado A&M
College for one year and then enlisted in the Army. His enlisted service
included basic training at Ft. Ord, CA; the Military Police School at Carlisle
Barracks, PA; duty as a military policeman at Ft. Dix, NJ; and attendance at the
US Military Academy Preparatory School at Stewart Field, NY. He was discharged
in May 1950 to enter West Point.
George was Deputy Sheriff of Pueblo County,
Colorado when he arrived at West Point as a Plebe. He was assigned to Company
M-2 and known as “The Sheriff ” for the next four years. His classmates in the
company became his lifelong second family. At the end of his plebe year, George
met his future wife, Jane Tuthill Anderson. They saw each other as much as
possible during the first year of their courtship, decided it was a good thing,
and were engaged for the last two years. He graduated as an Infantry officer on
Jun 8, 1954. They were married in New Rochelle, NY at her family church on Jun
12, 1954.
Following graduation leave, George and Jane moved
to Columbus, GA, where he began his military career at Ft. Benning’s Infantry
Officer Basic Course, the Airborne School, and the Ranger School. This was only
the first of many moves during their life together.
The next was to Puerto Rico for duty with the 65th
Infantry Regiment. Daughter Laurie Jane was born in Puerto Rico. The regiment
reverted to the Puerto Rico National Guard in early 1956, with most of, the
Regular Army officers then being transferred to Panama. The Calhoun family went
to Ft. Davis in the Canal Zone, where George was a company officer and a
battalion S-4 in the 33rd and 20th Infantry Regiments. After Panama, George was
an instructor at the Ranger Department’s
training facility on Eglin Air Force Base, FL where their son William Anderson
joined the family. George was selected for flight school at Camp Gary, TX, in
October 1958, with advanced flight training at Ft. Rucker, AL. From Ft. Rucker,
he returned to Ft. Benning to attend the Infantry Officer Advanced Course.
The family moved to Ft. Bragg, NC, in 1960. George’s principal activities at Ft.
Bragg included helicopter school at Ft. Wolters, TX, and command of the 82nd
Aviation Battalion’s Combat Aviation Company. Jane and the children
returned to her home in Connecticut when George received orders to Vietnam in
January 1962. His initial assignment was as Army Aviation advisor to the ARVN II
Corps commander, with a subsequent assignment as an aviator with the MAAG Flight
Detachment in Saigon.
George returned to Ft. Benning in February 1963 to
command a combat aviation company in the 11th Air Assault Division for almost
two years. He returned to Vietnam when the division was inactivated, reformed,
and deployed as the 1st Cavalry Division (Air Mobile). Prior to George’s
departure, son John Christopher joined the family. Upon his return from Vietnam,
the family’s next move was to Ft. Leavenworth, KS where George attended the
Command & General Staff College.
From Kansas, the family moved to Maxwell Air Force
Base, AL where George was an instructor at the Air Staff College with
opportunities to fly Air Force aircraft. The base was “family friendly,” with
ample time for scouts and vacations in the mountains or at the beach. The next
move was to Berlin, Germany, where they remained until 1973.
George’s assignments in Berlin were G-3 of the
Berlin Brigade and then command of the 2nd Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment for
the next two years. Even though Berlin was isolated in East Germany, and despite
the “Cold War,” the city offered a vast array of cultural activities
interspersed with visits to historic sites in Western Europe. After Berlin, the
family moved to Alexandria, VA. For the next eight years, 1973-81, George was
detailed as an inspector general,
initially at the Department of the Army for five years and then at the Army
Material Command for three years. While at the Pentagon, he earned a master’s
degree through George Washington University’s off-campus program. The next and
final move while in the Army was to Ft. Bragg, NC for assignment as the XVIII
Airborne Corps Aviation Officer. He retired at Ft. Bragg on Jul 31, 1984 as a
colonel with 30 years of commissioned service. At the time of his retirement,
George was the oldest active duty Army officer on flight status.
George and Jane’s last move was to Colorado
Springs, CO, to build their retirement home. For the next ten years he was a
project manager with a local A&E firm. He retired from the firm in 1994 with
plans for traveling with Jane, but this dream was cut short with her death. He
returned to his project manager job for another three years but then, with all
of his children involved in successful lives of their own, George volunteered to
work in Afghanistan with an organization providing English language training and
basic computer instruction to Afghan students and teachers. During the period
February 2003 through March 2006, he spent some 18 months in Afghanistan.
As George was so fond of saying during the last
few years of his life, when talking or writing to family and friends, “Remember
the good times.” |
