US Navy Electrician's Mate 3rd Class George Rudolph Chuites was born in Alabama on July 15, 1922, the son of Joseph Risdon "Joe" Chuites (1887-1951) and Lee Etta Campbell (1892-1991). His father had been born in Cottondale, Florida and had supported his family in a variety of ways and in several locations. In 1920, he was a railroad contractor in Taylor County, Florida followed in 1930 as a logging superintendent in Pensacola. By 1934, he was a fireman in Pensacola before moving to Pine Bluff, Arkansas prior to 1940 to work on the logging scales at a sawmill. By that time, his son George was also a laborer at the mill as well. His father would return to Pensacola where he spent the majority of his life and was buried here.
It was not long before America was embroiled in WWII causing George to enlist in the US Navy in Little Rock on August 3, 1942. After processing his enlistment, he was sent to training for eight months before heading to the South Pacific. His first stop was the receiving station at Noumea, New Caladonia. From there he was sent to the APA-7 USS Fuller for duty on February 8, 1943 as a Seaman 2nd Class. By November he had been promoted to Fireman 2nd Class before being transferred to the Amphibious boat pool #11 for duty. From that point on, his military duties become cloudy, but we do know he had been promoted to Electrician's Mate 3rd Class when he was killed in a plane crash on the island of Bougainville on October 7, 1944. The island had been captured and subdued by December 15, 1943 and three airstrips were constructed for further bombing operations.
George's parents were notified by a telegraph from the War Department at their home at 1115 North "P" Street that he had been killed in a plane crash. He was buried on the island along with the 727 Marines that had died taking it away from the Japanese. After the war, his family requested that his remains be returned home. He was disinterred and shipped to Pensacola in July 1948 and buried in the Barrancas Cemetery with full military honors.
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