GoVets Veteran Spotlight George Schwartz

George H. Schwartz Jr. was born in June 1924 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He grew up near an Olney firehouse with four sisters during the Great Depression and aspired to become a firefighter. However, when World War II began, 17-year-old Schwartz persuaded his parents to let him join the Army before finishing high school to serve his country.

In February 1942, Schwartz enlisted as an Army Engineer, hoping for a firefighting role. After basic training at Fort Meade, Maryland, and further training in Claiborne, Louisiana, he was deployed as a combat engineer. In Plymouth, England, his platoon was invited to a Thanksgiving dinner and participated in the Thanksgiving Day Parade.

After amphibious training on a Navy ship in North Africa, Schwartz’s unit supported the Fifth Army’s 344th Infantry Regiment in five battles across North Africa and Europe. His first mission was guarding a platoon bridge crossing at Monte Cassino, Italy, in 1943.

In 1944, after landing in southern France, the combat engineers cleared obstacles, often with TNT, advancing into Germany. They liberated Nazi concentration camp survivors by breaking open a gate at Dachau. After Germany’s surrender, Schwartz completed his three-year service in 1945.

Schwartz fulfilled his dream by graduating from the Philadelphia Fire Academy in 1950. He served as Ladder 5 tiller man in the Philadelphia Fire Department (PFD), where he was responsible for breaking through roofs to vent fires.

In 1956, Schwartz married Elizabeth, and they had four children. He retired from the PFD after 24 years of service, ending his career on Engine 64 in Lawndale, Philadelphia. He then spent 10 years as a state forest fire warden in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, leading wildfire crews and directing a youth conservation group.

In his free time, Schwartz worked in carpentry, making gifts and remodeling his family’s 100-year-old farm home. In 1987, he retired from the Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry and moved to New Jersey with his wife. He enjoyed spending time with his seven grandchildren.

Inspired by his Army service travels, Schwartz visited Germany and Ireland with his wife before her death in 2004, and later with his son and namesake. He was proud of his children's college graduations and thrilled to pin the Army brigadier general star on his son, George.

Schwartz was a member of American Legion Post 686, VFW Post 9462, and the St. Bernadette Senior Citizens Club. He remained an honorary member of the fire company in Rockledge, Pennsylvania, until his death in November 2016 at age 92.

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