George W. Becker

George W. Becker achieved the rank of Electrician’s Mate Second Class in the United States Navy.

Mr. Becker enlisted in the Navy on November 23, 1942 at the age of 17. Mr. Becker is a World War II veteran and member of the Greatest Generation.

Mr. Becker attended boot camp and Navy Class A school at Sampson Naval Training Station in Romulus, New York, training as an Electrician’s Mate from March 1943 to July 1943.

In August 1943, he shipped out to Treasure Island in California and was assigned to the commissioning crew of the USS Emery, a destroyer escort. The USS Emery departed for the South Pacific in October 1943. One month later, the Emery joined a 200-ship task force involved in the invasion of the Gilbert Islands.

After returning to Pearl Harbor in December 1943, the USS Emery again departed as part of the task force that invaded the Marshall Islands in January 1944.

Mr. Becker was part of several subsequent protection and escort missions during World War II. His final assignment was serving on the crew of the USS Admiral W.S. Sims, a troop transport ship commissioned after the end of World War II.

When the Japanese formally surrendered on V-J Day, September 2, 1945, the USS Admiral W.S. Sims was designated to bring American troops home. Mr. Becker and his shipmates made two trips to Manila and one trip to Okinawa, bringing back almost 5,000 troops on each voyage.

Mr. Becker was honorably discharged from his military duties on April 3, 1946. For his service, he received the World War II Victory Medal, American Campaign Medal, and the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal.

Mr. Becker returned to Rochester, New York on April 4, 1946 and was hired by Rochester Gas & Electric, where he worked until 1987, retiring with 41 years of service.

A resident of Riga, New York, Mr. Becker continued to serve his community when his military service ended. He was a member of the Town’s Board of Assessment Review, Zoning Board of Appeals, and a 27-year member of the Town Planning Board, where he served as chairman for eight years.