“Lights of Peace” Flag for July 2024. To Honor George E. Church WWII Veteran and Benefactor

The 58th Lights for Peace flag,

To fly at the Fort Taber – Fort Rodman Military Museum honors the memory of George E.
Church of Rochester, a veteran of the United States Army Air Corps who
served during WWII. The month of July is the 10th anniversary of his
passing.
Flag To Honor George E. Church
WWII Veteran and Benefactor
During the month of July, the 58th Lights for Peace flag to fly at the Fort Taber – Fort Rodman Military
Museum honors the memory of George E. Church of Rochester, a veteran of the United States Army
Air Corps who served during WWII. The month of July is the 10th anniversary of his passing.
Mr. Church was born in Rochester in 1924, son of the late George F. and Martha (Smith) Church. He
served as a Corporal in the U. S. Army Air Corps from April 1943 to October 12, 1945, as an airplane
and engine mechanic. Church participated in many campaigns including the Battle of Normandy,
Northern France, Ardennes, Rhineland, Central Europe and the Air Offensive in Europe.
According to Church’s nephew, Greenwood “Woody” Hartley III, his uncle George “was proud of his
service in the Eighth Air Force.” Commonly known as the “Mighty Eight,” the Eighth Air Force earned
an impressive war record. According to the 8af.af.mil website, “From May 1942 to July 1945, the
Eighth planned and precisely executed America’s daylight strategic bombing campaign against Nazioccupied Europe.” However, they also suffered dearly with more than 26,000 men killed. Church was
honorably discharged on October 12, 1945, in Fort Bliss Texas, and received the European African
Middle Eastern Ribbon and the Good Conduct Medal for his service.
George Church comes from a long line of descendants who settled in Rochester back in 1726. Ten
generations of Church family members have occupied land in Rochester since then. George was born
on the homestead property on Mattapoisett Road in Rochester and lived there all his life.
George, along with his late wife, Katherine (Hartley) Church, were very involved in the town of Rochester. Two of the oldest families in town, the Church’s who owned Church’s sawmill and the Hartley’s, who owned Hartley’s sawmill, were very influential families in the town of Rochester.
Both George and Katherine were most known for their philanthropic endeavors. According to Joan
Pierce of the Massachusetts Dept. of Fish and Game, “In 2000, they sold 125 acres of the Church
homestead to the Mass. Dept. of Fish and Game to be permanent conservation land and added to the
Haskell Swamp Wildlife Management Area. Part of these 125 acres had been in the Church family
continuously for over 300 years.”
Both George and Katherine dedicated their lives to the town of Rochester. George was named the Standard-Times “Man of the Year” in 2007, while Katherine was named the Standard-Times “Woman of the
Year,” ten years earlier, in 1997.
George E. Church, who was a self-taught mechanical genius, died on July 31, 2014, at the age of 90