Memorial marker and he is also among the Tablets of the missing at the Manila American Cemetery.
While George's grave may be here, near his parents and one of his brothers, his remains were never recovered.
Here is a story that I, his cousin have shared on Ancestry.com
One Family's Great Loss
As I was only three or four years old at the time, so story is written from what has been told to me over the years.
It was during the 2nd War World. My Aunt Alice and Uncle Fred Priest had just moved from Oakland CA, where my family lived to Redwood City CA. All I can remember of their move was the big moving van had a Mayflower sailing ship on it.
Shortly after moving, a friend called my Aunt Alice and said that the friend had heard on the radio that one of my aunt and uncle's sons had been killed in the war. After making some phone calls, my aunt was told that the war department's telegram has been sent to their old address in Oakland.
Fred and Alice drove back to Oakland, a distant of about sixty miles, a trip that likely took about two hours, as in those days there were no freeways. Since they did not know which of the telegram offices the telegram had been to sent to they decided to split up and Fred would check some telegram offices and Alice would check the others. Upon finding the telegram they would meet back up which they did. When they compared their telegrams they discovered that they had loss not one son, but two sons.
George F Priest and Elbert Raymond Priest had both joined the U. S. Marine Corps together shortly after getting out of high school and at the time of their death they were both Corporals and each were plane rear tail gunners. As the story goes, one of the brother's planes was slot down, and the other brother volunteered to go looking for his other brother that was missing and his plane was also shot down shortly thereafter.
I grew up visiting my aunt’s family and seeing a small red, white and blue banner hanging in the window with two stars on it during the rest of the war and a long time thereafter.
As the family had been given two flags from the Marines, one for each son, but the flags were never near either of their caskets as their bodies were never found, I was given one of the flags and I flew it daily for a long time up to the time until I got out of high school and myself went into the U. S. Marines Corps.
It is hard to say for sure of my reasons, but about 15 years later when I became of military age, in 1957, I too, joined the U. S. Marine Corps, the year after I got out of high school.
From this family I have only one male cousin left, Irving Priest, as both Alice and Fred have passed away. Fred passed away in 1960, while I was in the Marine Corps. and Alice passed away in 1995.
Upon writing the above it was shown to my cousin, Irving Priest, who added the following in his own words.
"FYI: On Sunday Dec. 7, 1941, Ray was somewhere with his girlfriend, Tiny and George and I were at a theatre on East.14th. I believe the movie was "Wings of Angels" or similar (a WWI movie). The movie stopped, the theatre manager came on stage and announced that Japan had bombed Pearl Harbor that day. Of course, Pres. Roosevelt announced the following day that we were officially at war with Japan. That same day, Ray and George enlisted in the Marine Corp. They wasted no time in answering the call,, even before it was made. My folks accepted it well. On January 5th, 1942 they left for San Diego Boot Camp.
While in B.C. [Boot Camp] they both volunteered for the Marine Air Corp. and were assigned to the First Air Wing, First Marine Division. Together, the received extensive pre-flight training at a "secret" base somewhere around Bakersfield, I believe. After that phase, they, together, were sent to Jacksonville, Fla. for further flight and radio training. It seemed they were in Florida for quite a while. Upon completing that part of their training, they were shipped back to California to another "secret" base which turned out to be Camp Kearny. It was for further, more advanced flight training. They were near completion of the final phase of this training and getting their "pilots wings" when the war had been stepped up in the Pacific and Guadalcanal was extremely important to the future success of the war let alone keeping the Japanese from invading Australia which could have completely changed the end results. The were taken out of flight training and shipped over to Guadalcanal, either near the end of 1942 or the beginning of 1943. They remained in the First Air Wing but rather than pilots they were (both) assigned as rear radio gunners in the Douglas Dauntless Scout Bombers.
Now here is where I get a little unsure of the exact facts but I believe I can safely say I feel about 95 percent sure I am correct on the following. George's squadron was assigned a scouting mission to search for a Japanese group of ships somewhere in the vicinity. Some distance from the air base, one of George's squadron members saw his plane go below cloud level and not re-appear. Radio silence was strictly adhered to. Ray took it quite hard when the squadron returned. I believe you are correct in that he and his pilot did volunteer to look for him but with no success. Five weeks later, Ray and his pilot, alone, went on an assigned scouting mission and never returned. Neither plane was ever recovered nor seen again.
As you stated we heard about from a friend of the family who heard it on the radio and since the radio stations repeated this information, we did in fact hear it a bit later. Finally the telegrams presented themselves, declaring both my brothers as Missing in Action. One year later, by law, they were assumed Killed in Action and again, telegrams were sent announcing the KIAs. I had just entered high school, two or three days as a Freshman, when the telegrams came. That was Sept. 1943, I was 13 yrs old, and it was a tough time but my folks really handled it great.
You did in fact see a red white and blue flag with two stars flying in the window but that was when Ray and George were still alive. Once the KIA telegrams arrived, the flag was changed to a gold trimmed flag with white background and two gold stars.
They were my HEROES then and they are still my HEROES now. No one can match their integrity or their patriotism. No one can match the Heroism they showed then.
I hope this gives you a good insight into the situation as I remember it. A fellow Marine and a friend of both my brothers, Sgt. Lopez from Fresno, was with Ray and George on Guadalcanal and was kind enough to come by the house and spend some time with the family relating the facts as I remember them. I was fortunate to be there the day Sgt. Lopez arrived.
That's as I know it, that's how I remember it.
Irving
The addition to my story was written by Irving prior to his move from Redwood City to the state of Washington. With Irving's later death and the entire generation of the Fred Priest family had passed away. May they all rest in peace and may the memory of all of them be remembered forever.
While George's grave may be here, near his parents and one of his brothers, his remains were never recovered.
Here is a story that I, his cousin have shared on Ancestry.com
One Family's Great Loss
As I was only three or four years old at the time, so story is written from what has been told to me over the years.
It was during the 2nd War World. My Aunt Alice and Uncle Fred Priest had just moved from Oakland CA, where my family lived to Redwood City CA. All I can remember of their move was the big moving van had a Mayflower sailing ship on it.
Shortly after moving, a friend called my Aunt Alice and said that the friend had heard on the radio that one of my aunt and uncle's sons had been killed in the war. After making some phone calls, my aunt was told that the war department's telegram has been sent to their old address in Oakland.
Fred and Alice drove back to Oakland, a distant of about sixty miles, a trip that likely took about two hours, as in those days there were no freeways. Since they did not know which of the telegram offices the telegram had been to sent to they decided to split up and Fred would check some telegram offices and Alice would check the others. Upon finding the telegram they would meet back up which they did. When they compared their telegrams they discovered that they had loss not one son, but two sons.
George F Priest and Elbert Raymond Priest had both joined the U. S. Marine Corps together shortly after getting out of high school and at the time of their death they were both Corporals and each were plane rear tail gunners. As the story goes, one of the brother's planes was slot down, and the other brother volunteered to go looking for his other brother that was missing and his plane was also shot down shortly thereafter.
I grew up visiting my aunt’s family and seeing a small red, white and blue banner hanging in the window with two stars on it during the rest of the war and a long time thereafter.
As the family had been given two flags from the Marines, one for each son, but the flags were never near either of their caskets as their bodies were never found, I was given one of the flags and I flew it daily for a long time up to the time until I got out of high school and myself went into the U. S. Marines Corps.
It is hard to say for sure of my reasons, but about 15 years later when I became of military age, in 1957, I too, joined the U. S. Marine Corps, the year after I got out of high school.
From this family I have only one male cousin left, Irving Priest, as both Alice and Fred have passed away. Fred passed away in 1960, while I was in the Marine Corps. and Alice passed away in 1995.
Upon writing the above it was shown to my cousin, Irving Priest, who added the following in his own words.
"FYI: On Sunday Dec. 7, 1941, Ray was somewhere with his girlfriend, Tiny and George and I were at a theatre on East.14th. I believe the movie was "Wings of Angels" or similar (a WWI movie). The movie stopped, the theatre manager came on stage and announced that Japan had bombed Pearl Harbor that day. Of course, Pres. Roosevelt announced the following day that we were officially at war with Japan. That same day, Ray and George enlisted in the Marine Corp. They wasted no time in answering the call,, even before it was made. My folks accepted it well. On January 5th, 1942 they left for San Diego Boot Camp.
While in B.C. [Boot Camp] they both volunteered for the Marine Air Corp. and were assigned to the First Air Wing, First Marine Division. Together, the received extensive pre-flight training at a "secret" base somewhere around Bakersfield, I believe. After that phase, they, together, were sent to Jacksonville, Fla. for further flight and radio training. It seemed they were in Florida for quite a while. Upon completing that part of their training, they were shipped back to California to another "secret" base which turned out to be Camp Kearny. It was for further, more advanced flight training. They were near completion of the final phase of this training and getting their "pilots wings" when the war had been stepped up in the Pacific and Guadalcanal was extremely important to the future success of the war let alone keeping the Japanese from invading Australia which could have completely changed the end results. The were taken out of flight training and shipped over to Guadalcanal, either near the end of 1942 or the beginning of 1943. They remained in the First Air Wing but rather than pilots they were (both) assigned as rear radio gunners in the Douglas Dauntless Scout Bombers.
Now here is where I get a little unsure of the exact facts but I believe I can safely say I feel about 95 percent sure I am correct on the following. George's squadron was assigned a scouting mission to search for a Japanese group of ships somewhere in the vicinity. Some distance from the air base, one of George's squadron members saw his plane go below cloud level and not re-appear. Radio silence was strictly adhered to. Ray took it quite hard when the squadron returned. I believe you are correct in that he and his pilot did volunteer to look for him but with no success. Five weeks later, Ray and his pilot, alone, went on an assigned scouting mission and never returned. Neither plane was ever recovered nor seen again.
As you stated we heard about from a friend of the family who heard it on the radio and since the radio stations repeated this information, we did in fact hear it a bit later. Finally the telegrams presented themselves, declaring both my brothers as Missing in Action. One year later, by law, they were assumed Killed in Action and again, telegrams were sent announcing the KIAs. I had just entered high school, two or three days as a Freshman, when the telegrams came. That was Sept. 1943, I was 13 yrs old, and it was a tough time but my folks really handled it great.
You did in fact see a red white and blue flag with two stars flying in the window but that was when Ray and George were still alive. Once the KIA telegrams arrived, the flag was changed to a gold trimmed flag with white background and two gold stars.
They were my HEROES then and they are still my HEROES now. No one can match their integrity or their patriotism. No one can match the Heroism they showed then.
I hope this gives you a good insight into the situation as I remember it. A fellow Marine and a friend of both my brothers, Sgt. Lopez from Fresno, was with Ray and George on Guadalcanal and was kind enough to come by the house and spend some time with the family relating the facts as I remember them. I was fortunate to be there the day Sgt. Lopez arrived.
That's as I know it, that's how I remember it.
Irving
The addition to my story was written by Irving prior to his move from Redwood City to the state of Washington. With Irving's later death and the entire generation of the Fred Priest family had passed away. May they all rest in peace and may the memory of all of them be remembered forever.
Memorial marker and he is also among the Tablets of the missing at the Manila American Cemetery.
While George's grave may be here, near his parents and one of his brothers, his remains were never recovered.
Here is a story that I, his cousin have shared on Ancestry.com
One Family's Great Loss
As I was only three or four years old at the time, so story is written from what has been told to me over the years.
It was during the 2nd War World. My Aunt Alice and Uncle Fred Priest had just moved from Oakland CA, where my family lived to Redwood City CA. All I can remember of their move was the big moving van had a Mayflower sailing ship on it.
Shortly after moving, a friend called my Aunt Alice and said that the friend had heard on the radio that one of my aunt and uncle's sons had been killed in the war. After making some phone calls, my aunt was told that the war department's telegram has been sent to their old address in Oakland.
Fred and Alice drove back to Oakland, a distant of about sixty miles, a trip that likely took about two hours, as in those days there were no freeways. Since they did not know which of the telegram offices the telegram had been to sent to they decided to split up and Fred would check some telegram offices and Alice would check the others. Upon finding the telegram they would meet back up which they did. When they compared their telegrams they discovered that they had loss not one son, but two sons.
George F Priest and Elbert Raymond Priest had both joined the U. S. Marine Corps together shortly after getting out of high school and at the time of their death they were both Corporals and each were plane rear tail gunners. As the story goes, one of the brother's planes was slot down, and the other brother volunteered to go looking for his other brother that was missing and his plane was also shot down shortly thereafter.
I grew up visiting my aunt’s family and seeing a small red, white and blue banner hanging in the window with two stars on it during the rest of the war and a long time thereafter.
As the family had been given two flags from the Marines, one for each son, but the flags were never near either of their caskets as their bodies were never found, I was given one of the flags and I flew it daily for a long time up to the time until I got out of high school and myself went into the U. S. Marines Corps.
It is hard to say for sure of my reasons, but about 15 years later when I became of military age, in 1957, I too, joined the U. S. Marine Corps, the year after I got out of high school.
From this family I have only one male cousin left, Irving Priest, as both Alice and Fred have passed away. Fred passed away in 1960, while I was in the Marine Corps. and Alice passed away in 1995.
Upon writing the above it was shown to my cousin, Irving Priest, who added the following in his own words.
"FYI: On Sunday Dec. 7, 1941, Ray was somewhere with his girlfriend, Tiny and George and I were at a theatre on East.14th. I believe the movie was "Wings of Angels" or similar (a WWI movie). The movie stopped, the theatre manager came on stage and announced that Japan had bombed Pearl Harbor that day. Of course, Pres. Roosevelt announced the following day that we were officially at war with Japan. That same day, Ray and George enlisted in the Marine Corp. They wasted no time in answering the call,, even before it was made. My folks accepted it well. On January 5th, 1942 they left for San Diego Boot Camp.
While in B.C. [Boot Camp] they both volunteered for the Marine Air Corp. and were assigned to the First Air Wing, First Marine Division. Together, the received extensive pre-flight training at a "secret" base somewhere around Bakersfield, I believe. After that phase, they, together, were sent to Jacksonville, Fla. for further flight and radio training. It seemed they were in Florida for quite a while. Upon completing that part of their training, they were shipped back to California to another "secret" base which turned out to be Camp Kearny. It was for further, more advanced flight training. They were near completion of the final phase of this training and getting their "pilots wings" when the war had been stepped up in the Pacific and Guadalcanal was extremely important to the future success of the war let alone keeping the Japanese from invading Australia which could have completely changed the end results. The were taken out of flight training and shipped over to Guadalcanal, either near the end of 1942 or the beginning of 1943. They remained in the First Air Wing but rather than pilots they were (both) assigned as rear radio gunners in the Douglas Dauntless Scout Bombers.
Now here is where I get a little unsure of the exact facts but I believe I can safely say I feel about 95 percent sure I am correct on the following. George's squadron was assigned a scouting mission to search for a Japanese group of ships somewhere in the vicinity. Some distance from the air base, one of George's squadron members saw his plane go below cloud level and not re-appear. Radio silence was strictly adhered to. Ray took it quite hard when the squadron returned. I believe you are correct in that he and his pilot did volunteer to look for him but with no success. Five weeks later, Ray and his pilot, alone, went on an assigned scouting mission and never returned. Neither plane was ever recovered nor seen again.
As you stated we heard about from a friend of the family who heard it on the radio and since the radio stations repeated this information, we did in fact hear it a bit later. Finally the telegrams presented themselves, declaring both my brothers as Missing in Action. One year later, by law, they were assumed Killed in Action and again, telegrams were sent announcing the KIAs. I had just entered high school, two or three days as a Freshman, when the telegrams came. That was Sept. 1943, I was 13 yrs old, and it was a tough time but my folks really handled it great.
You did in fact see a red white and blue flag with two stars flying in the window but that was when Ray and George were still alive. Once the KIA telegrams arrived, the flag was changed to a gold trimmed flag with white background and two gold stars.
They were my HEROES then and they are still my HEROES now. No one can match their integrity or their patriotism. No one can match the Heroism they showed then.
I hope this gives you a good insight into the situation as I remember it. A fellow Marine and a friend of both my brothers, Sgt. Lopez from Fresno, was with Ray and George on Guadalcanal and was kind enough to come by the house and spend some time with the family relating the facts as I remember them. I was fortunate to be there the day Sgt. Lopez arrived.
That's as I know it, that's how I remember it.
Irving
The addition to my story was written by Irving prior to his move from Redwood City to the state of Washington. With Irving's later death and the entire generation of the Fred Priest family had passed away. May they all rest in peace and may the memory of all of them be remembered forever.
While George's grave may be here, near his parents and one of his brothers, his remains were never recovered.
Here is a story that I, his cousin have shared on Ancestry.com
One Family's Great Loss
As I was only three or four years old at the time, so story is written from what has been told to me over the years.
It was during the 2nd War World. My Aunt Alice and Uncle Fred Priest had just moved from Oakland CA, where my family lived to Redwood City CA. All I can remember of their move was the big moving van had a Mayflower sailing ship on it.
Shortly after moving, a friend called my Aunt Alice and said that the friend had heard on the radio that one of my aunt and uncle's sons had been killed in the war. After making some phone calls, my aunt was told that the war department's telegram has been sent to their old address in Oakland.
Fred and Alice drove back to Oakland, a distant of about sixty miles, a trip that likely took about two hours, as in those days there were no freeways. Since they did not know which of the telegram offices the telegram had been to sent to they decided to split up and Fred would check some telegram offices and Alice would check the others. Upon finding the telegram they would meet back up which they did. When they compared their telegrams they discovered that they had loss not one son, but two sons.
George F Priest and Elbert Raymond Priest had both joined the U. S. Marine Corps together shortly after getting out of high school and at the time of their death they were both Corporals and each were plane rear tail gunners. As the story goes, one of the brother's planes was slot down, and the other brother volunteered to go looking for his other brother that was missing and his plane was also shot down shortly thereafter.
I grew up visiting my aunt’s family and seeing a small red, white and blue banner hanging in the window with two stars on it during the rest of the war and a long time thereafter.
As the family had been given two flags from the Marines, one for each son, but the flags were never near either of their caskets as their bodies were never found, I was given one of the flags and I flew it daily for a long time up to the time until I got out of high school and myself went into the U. S. Marines Corps.
It is hard to say for sure of my reasons, but about 15 years later when I became of military age, in 1957, I too, joined the U. S. Marine Corps, the year after I got out of high school.
From this family I have only one male cousin left, Irving Priest, as both Alice and Fred have passed away. Fred passed away in 1960, while I was in the Marine Corps. and Alice passed away in 1995.
Upon writing the above it was shown to my cousin, Irving Priest, who added the following in his own words.
"FYI: On Sunday Dec. 7, 1941, Ray was somewhere with his girlfriend, Tiny and George and I were at a theatre on East.14th. I believe the movie was "Wings of Angels" or similar (a WWI movie). The movie stopped, the theatre manager came on stage and announced that Japan had bombed Pearl Harbor that day. Of course, Pres. Roosevelt announced the following day that we were officially at war with Japan. That same day, Ray and George enlisted in the Marine Corp. They wasted no time in answering the call,, even before it was made. My folks accepted it well. On January 5th, 1942 they left for San Diego Boot Camp.
While in B.C. [Boot Camp] they both volunteered for the Marine Air Corp. and were assigned to the First Air Wing, First Marine Division. Together, the received extensive pre-flight training at a "secret" base somewhere around Bakersfield, I believe. After that phase, they, together, were sent to Jacksonville, Fla. for further flight and radio training. It seemed they were in Florida for quite a while. Upon completing that part of their training, they were shipped back to California to another "secret" base which turned out to be Camp Kearny. It was for further, more advanced flight training. They were near completion of the final phase of this training and getting their "pilots wings" when the war had been stepped up in the Pacific and Guadalcanal was extremely important to the future success of the war let alone keeping the Japanese from invading Australia which could have completely changed the end results. The were taken out of flight training and shipped over to Guadalcanal, either near the end of 1942 or the beginning of 1943. They remained in the First Air Wing but rather than pilots they were (both) assigned as rear radio gunners in the Douglas Dauntless Scout Bombers.
Now here is where I get a little unsure of the exact facts but I believe I can safely say I feel about 95 percent sure I am correct on the following. George's squadron was assigned a scouting mission to search for a Japanese group of ships somewhere in the vicinity. Some distance from the air base, one of George's squadron members saw his plane go below cloud level and not re-appear. Radio silence was strictly adhered to. Ray took it quite hard when the squadron returned. I believe you are correct in that he and his pilot did volunteer to look for him but with no success. Five weeks later, Ray and his pilot, alone, went on an assigned scouting mission and never returned. Neither plane was ever recovered nor seen again.
As you stated we heard about from a friend of the family who heard it on the radio and since the radio stations repeated this information, we did in fact hear it a bit later. Finally the telegrams presented themselves, declaring both my brothers as Missing in Action. One year later, by law, they were assumed Killed in Action and again, telegrams were sent announcing the KIAs. I had just entered high school, two or three days as a Freshman, when the telegrams came. That was Sept. 1943, I was 13 yrs old, and it was a tough time but my folks really handled it great.
You did in fact see a red white and blue flag with two stars flying in the window but that was when Ray and George were still alive. Once the KIA telegrams arrived, the flag was changed to a gold trimmed flag with white background and two gold stars.
They were my HEROES then and they are still my HEROES now. No one can match their integrity or their patriotism. No one can match the Heroism they showed then.
I hope this gives you a good insight into the situation as I remember it. A fellow Marine and a friend of both my brothers, Sgt. Lopez from Fresno, was with Ray and George on Guadalcanal and was kind enough to come by the house and spend some time with the family relating the facts as I remember them. I was fortunate to be there the day Sgt. Lopez arrived.
That's as I know it, that's how I remember it.
Irving
The addition to my story was written by Irving prior to his move from Redwood City to the state of Washington. With Irving's later death and the entire generation of the Fred Priest family had passed away. May they all rest in peace and may the memory of all of them be remembered forever.
Inscription
CALIFORNIA CPL US MARINE CORPS WORLD WAR II PH
