To Editor:

George Lester Kohr, always referred to as G. Lester Kohr, or Les to us.  He was just a guy that visited once in a while, or on holidays with his wife and her little dog.  I was still in grade school, and had no idea what he did before then.  There was one day when Gemini 3 splashed down that he was sitting here with my dad watching TV when I came in, and he said “that was my ship” when the capsule was picked up by the Intrepid.  I was probably 8, so what did that mean to me.  I only wish now that I could ask him about some of the things he did in his life. This interest in finding what he did started a couple years ago when I started watching Youtube videos of “shooters” on aircraft carriers.

I’m not a writer, so there is no story, but this list of things took me months to find and put in some kind of logical order.  Some of the things came from your Cruise Book (1961-1962) from those years.  Many of them came from random places scattered over the internet.  I found your blog by accident, and hope you find some of this interesting.  This wasn’t a guy that sat around with a glass in his hand, he flew planes, and taught others to fly.  He was awarded 3 bronze medals.

George Lester Kohr.  4-30-1907 to 12-13-1994

1929- graduated from United Stated Naval Academy

1. battleship Mississippi in June 1929

2.  transferred to the Navy's flight school at Pensacola, Florida where he became a naval aviator in September 1931.

  2a.  From 1931 to 1939, he served in all categories of flying- carrier, patrol plane and shipboard seaplanes.  In June 1941 was           assigned as aide and flag lieutenant to Admiral A.B Cook, then commanding the Aircraft Atlantic Fleet.

3. At the beginning of WW II, he flew mariner seaplanes on patrol duty and later trained all Navy pilots transitioning to this       new type aircraft at Ganana River Florida Air station.

  3a.  At the time of the North African invasion, he was transferred to command the Headquarters Squadron Fleet Air Wing 15

       and served in French Morocco until 1944, when he was transferred to the staff of Commander Air Force with the Atlantic         Fleet as operations officer.

4.  was awarded his first Bronze Star medal for work supporting anti-submarine operations of naval air squadrons at stations      in North Africa during the war.

  4a.  He was promoted to  commander and in March, 1945, was elevated to his present rank. (Captain?)

5.  After the war, he took command of the U.S.S. Floyd Bay, (April 1946 - September 1947) which, in addition to supporting          seaplane operation in China and Japan, conducted a global cruise in 1947.

6.  command of an air development squadron at Chincoteague, Va, where he was instrumental in furthering the development

    of aircraft drones and assisted in the introduction of guided missles within the navy's operational development force.  

7.  Naval Air Reserve Training unit at Anacostia in Washington D.C., which he commanded from May 1949 until the outbreak        of Korea.
  7a.  He was then transferred to the Far East where he completed a tour of duty as chief-of-staff to Commander Carier         

        Division 15.  For this duty he was awarded his third Bronze Star medal.  (I must have missed the second)

8.  Student at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in Washington, where upon graduation in 1953, he was transferred        to the office of the chief of naval operations in Washington and served as the head of aviation base section of the           

    Division of Aviation Plans.

9.  Chief of staff and aide to Rear Admiral C.E. Ekstrom, (or E.A. Cruise) commander of Carrier Division 6, Atlantic fleet.

10. Commanding the attack carrier Intrepid- participated in carrier operations in the Mediterranean in 1955, where he was host

    to the Spanish Secretary of the Navy, Admiral Moreno. He considered this the crowning point in his long career.  But his

    duty was cut short.  He took over the Intrepid, one of the navy's largest aircraft carriers, in mid-1955.  For six months he

    skippered the big flattop with the sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean until a bout with hepatitis robbed him of his station

    and necessitated his transfer.

11. After his recovery, Commanded the Naval Air station Guantonamo Bay, Cuba, a major jet base for naval carrier operations. 

    He directed operations there  until returning to the states and the Continental Air Defense Command.  

12.  Served briefly as commander of Naval Forces, CONAD, before arrival of Admiral Rodee. (Ent Air Force Base)
 

13.   Chief of staff to Rear Admiral Walter F. Rodee, commander of Naval Forces, Continal Air Defense (CONAD) at Colorado

      Springs, CO.  (since 1957(?) until his retirement at 52)

 

Dennis