Lieutenant George A. Long Jr.

P-47 Fighter Pilot

395th Fighter Squadron, 386th Fighter Group, 9th Air Force

     George A. Long Jr hailed from York, Pennsylvania before joining the United States Army Air Force in the fall of 1942. In his travels, he trained at a vast swath of stateside bases, one of the more unique was his pre-flight training done at Transylvania College located in Lexington, Kentucky. The school was one of the oldest in the nation and only in 1943 had begun to prep airmen with the secondary skills needed to be successful in the skies. During this training, he was attached to the 322nd College Training Detachment as he and his fellow soldiers turned the university's dorms into barracks and their open spaces into parade grounds. After months of training in the rather small program, Long graduated as a member of Crimson Flight E and moved onwards to more advanced training. Upon heading overseas Long was attached to the 395th Fighter Squadron operating out of France, becoming a ground-assault pilot of a P-47. The 395th was notorious for its successful air-to-ground tactics and played a major role in air support during the Bulge and drive into Germany. Long himself flew over 40 combat missions during his tour.