The Life and Times of George Skillman
Written by: Jimmy S., Tim S., and Julius K.
Technical Sergeant George Skillman was only 20 years old when he enlisted in the
war in 1942. He is currently 77 years old. He served in Port Battalion in the Pacific
throughout most of the war. He never actually saw battle, but was an integral part of the
US victory, as he repaired many vehicles and machines for the soldiers. George Skillman
had a normal life before the war, an extremely rough time during the war, and a jubilant
time afterwards.
George Skillman lived in Elmira Heights before the war, and has lived there most
of his life. He ran a gas station and was a mechanic. In a way, he expected the United
States to enter World War II.
“So what’s the big deal?” was his initial reaction to the news that a world war had begun.
“When you are young, ambition overcomes you,” he said in hindsight.
George does not exactly remember where he was when he heard then news about Pearl Harbor, but assures us that he was “somewhere
breathing.”
George Skillman did not fight in the war, but he was trained as a top secret “FARROT.” His position entailed that he checked with captains of
incoming ships to make sure that they were not carrying any concealed explosives to destroy the docks. Mr. Skillman also had a story about how a
friend let him ride in a P-38 Lightning. When he was in it with his friend, they swooped down and watched one tip of the wing on the plane skim
the water. Because he was stationed deep in the jungle, he didn’t know when the war would end. No one really did. All the information that he
received was secondhand, and unreliable. At times he thought that he would never get home. Skillman always had a feeling that the United States
would win the war because it’s natural.
“It’s like when you play poker or something like that. You wouldn’t be on a team that would lose. You’re not going to go out and root for
the other team. That’s because you’re always going to win, not lose,” George said. When Mr. Skillman returned home from his station, the reaction
was elation. “Very jubilant,” was how he described his family’s reaction. “It was one of the most exciting and exuberant times.”
After the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Skillman was stationed there for a short time. That was where he heard about the ending
of WWII in the Pacific. He was very, very, happy. Despite the jumping, kissing, and hugging in celebration, he was in shock at the destruction that
was dropped on the city. When asked what it was like in Hiroshima, he said it was difficult to fathom.
“It was the same as coming out of a movie, and the next day you have to collect yourself to what it was about. Same difference with the
Hiroshima bomb.”
After the war, George Skillman returned to Elmira Heights and married Marcalla Preston, also from Elmira Heights. George Skillman
led a normal life before the war, had to experience horrible things during the war, and led a peaceful life after WWII. Skillman hopes that there
will not be another war, but believes that it is inevitable that a far greater thing will happen because technology gets into
the wrong hands. Mr. Skillman believes that the events that took place during the war were so horrible that none of it should be remembered, but
he does believe that we can learn to be accepting of other and that, “there’s nothing in God’s creation that can outsmart Yankee ingenuity.”