Posted by Terry Powers on December 15, 2022:

USMA Class of 1949. Cullum No. 16828. His mother was Dorothy Mealley Sylvester. On June 14, 1958 as Dorothy Clarice Mealley Sylvester, she married Raymond Weisbrod in Gloucester County, Virginia. His sister, Ann Sylvester, married his classmate, Marion Collier Ross. George Sylvester was born on August 10, 1927 in Riverdale, New Jersey. He grew up in Philadelphia and Rochester, New York. He entered West Point at age 17. Upon graduation in 1949, he married Elaine Winderling of Yonkers, New York. They were the parents of three children. As a fighter pilot, he flew 67 combat missions in the Vietnam War, where he commanded a squadron of F-4 Phantoms based at Danang. He earned his Master's degree from Georgetown University and then became an instructor at West Point. He commanded the Aeronautical Systems Division at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio which was responsible for developing aircraft and new weapon systems. In 1981 after 32 years in the United States Air Force, he retired with the rank of Lieutenant General. In civilian life, he was a consultant in the aerospace industry for 16 years. First, he and his wife, Elaine settled on a 67-acre farm in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. In 2009, they moved to Palm Beach Shores, Florida. He was active as President of Singer Island Rotary, board member of Riviera Beach YouthBuild, nature walk leader at MacArthur Beach State Park, disaster relief volunteer for the Red Cross and an active member of Faith Lutheran Church in North Palm Beach. In June 2014, he and his wife celebrated 65 years of marriage. He died on March 2, 2015 after a 40-year battle with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a lung disease. Survivors included his wife, Elaine; three children; one son-in-law; one daughter-in-law; six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Memorial services were held at Faith Lutheran Church at 555 United States Highway 1 in North Palm Beach, Florida. In lieu of flowers memorial contributions were suggested to the American Lung Association, No Warrior Left Behind c/o Faith Lutheran Church or the Singer Island Rotary Scholarship Fund Source : Find A Grave LIEUTENANT GENERAL GEORGE H. SYLVESTER Lieutenant General George H. Sylvester is vice commander Air Force Systems Command Andrews Air Force Base, Md. General Sylvester was born in 1927, in Riverside, N.J., and graduated from Haverford High School, Havertown, Pa. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, N.Y., in 1949 with a bachelor of science degree in military engineering and a commission as a second lieutenant. He has a master of science degree from Georgetown University and is a graduate of the Air Command and Staff College and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. Following graduation from the academy, he earned his pilot wings at Vance Air Force Base, Okla. In November 1950 General Sylvester was assigned to the Military Air Transport Service (now Military Airlift Command) and served as a pilot at Kelly Air Force Base, Texas. He then completed one year of duty with the 7th Air Rescue Squadron at Sidi Slimane Air Base, Morocco. In November 1952 he was transferred to Great Falls Air Force Base, Mont., as a pilot with the 75th Air Transportation Squadron. In November 1953 he moved with the 75th to Travis Air Force Base, Calif. Duties at both locations included trans-Pacific missions and regular flights to Kodiak and Adak in the Aleutians. In June 1954 General Sylvester was assigned through the Air Force Institute of Technology to study international relations and political science at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. He graduated from Georgetown in 1956 with a master's degree and served the next four years as an assistant professor in government at the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, N.Y. He next was a student at the Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., where he was a distinguished graduate in the class of 1961. In July 1961 General Sylvester was assigned to Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C., in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans and Programs, as an international affairs officer in the Pacific-Asian Branch and from October 1961 until March 1964 as a long-range planning officer. In June 1964 he become military assistant to the secretary of defense. After F-4C combat crew training from March to July 1966, General Sylvester was transferred to Da Nang Air Base, Republic of Vietnam, where he commanded the 480th Tactical Fighter Squadron, known as "The MiG Killers," and flew 68 combat missions over North Vietnam. In December 1966 he became commander of Da Nang Air Base. General Sylvester entered the Industrial College of the Armed Forces at Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C., in August 1967. Upon graduation in June 1968, he went to Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., where he was director of test and evaluation in the Armament Development and Test Center. In April 1970 he was named assistant director, tactical systems test and evaluation, Office of the Director of Defense, Research and Engineering, Office of the Secretary of Defense. From June 1973 until October 1974, General Sylvester was deputy for systems at the Aeronautical Systems Division, Air Force Systems Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. He then served as vice commander of the Aeronautical Systems Division until September 1976 when he became commander. He assumed his current position of vice commander, Air Force Systems Command, in March 1979. General Sylvester was promoted to the grade of lieutenant general on Sept. 17, 1976, with same date of rank. (Current as of March 2015) Source USAF

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