This Military Service Page was created/owned by
SSgt Robert Bruce McClelland, Jr.
to remember
Stratemeyer, George Edward, Lt Gen USAF(Ret).
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Contact Info
Home Town Orlando, Florida
Date of Passing Aug 11, 1969
Location of Interment United States Air Force Academy Cemetery (VLM) - Colorado Springs, Colorado
He was also awarded the following foreign decorations which are not shown on his ribbon bar: Ho-Tu Medal of the Chinese Air Force; Chinese Special Tashou Cloud Banner; Chinese Pilot's Badge; Polish Order of Polonia Restituta Commander's Cross; Yugoslavian pilot's badge.
His DSC citation: Awarded for actions during the Korean War
The President of the United States of America, under the provisions of the Act of Congress approved July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Lieutenant General George Edward Stratemeyer (ASN: 0-3893/5A), United States Air Force, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy of the United Nations while serving as Commanding General, Far East Air Forces, in action against enemy forces in the Republic of Korea from 14 July to 28 September 1950. During the early days of the conflict, General Stratemeyer personally performed aerial reconnaissance of advanced airfields which were under attack by enemy aircraft and under fire by ground weapons, enabling him to plan immediately the most effective utilization of his combat air forces in the initial defensive phase. He directed the evacuation by air of American citizens from those advanced fields, continually subjecting himself to great danger. Subsequent flights were made in unarmed and unescorted aircraft to forward airstrips to appraise the situation during the gradual, forced withdrawal of our troops. Personally, and at the risk of his life, in order to direct comprehensively the efforts of the Far East Air Forces in close support of the Eighth Army in Korea, he pressed forward on the ground by vehicle and on foot to the outermost advanced positions. The firsthand knowledge gained by General Stratemeyer from these reconnaissance missions was invaluable to him in planning the coordination of air support with ground combat activity, and contributed largely in enabling the ground troops to wrest the initiative from the enemy and assume the offensive in driving the invading enemy from the area of south of the 38th Parallel. Where courageous leadership was the practice, General Stratemeyer's dauntless and inspirational leadership was conspicuous, reflecting great credit on himself and the United Nations Armed Forces.
General Orders: General Headquarters Far East Command: General Orders No. 46 (October 22, 1950)
The SAGE system was a network linking Air Force (and later FAA) General Surveillance Radar stations into a centralized center for Air Defense, intended to provide early warning and response for a Soviet nuclear attack. The Ground Air Transmitting Receiving (GATR) Site (R-18) for communications was located at approximately 1.1 miles souh-southwest from the SAGE building. Normally the GATR site was connected by a pair of buried telephone cables, with a backup connection of dual telephone cables overhead.
DC-18 was initially under the San Francisco Air Defense Sector (SFADS), established on 15 February 1959. DC-18 and the SFADS was inactivated on 1 August 1963 as part of an ADC consolidation and reorganization, with its assigned units assigned to other ADC Sectors. The GATR was reassigned to Mill Valley AFS (Z-38) as an annex designated OL-A, 666th Radar Squadron. Today the large SAGE building is now building 2145, housing the 9th Reconnaissance Technical Squadron; the GATR was inactivated in 1980 and the building is now part of a Skeet-shooting range.