Lights of Peace Flag October 2024, Honors Sgt. George Paine
October, the 61st Lights for Peace flag to fly at the Fort Taber – Fort Rodman Military Museum honors the memory of United States Army war hero, Sgt. George Paine who was killed in action at the age of 21, on November 30, 1950, while risking his life to save his comrades during the Korean War.
George was the son of the late Byron Hollis Paine and Nan Salmond Paine. He was born in Panama in 1929 and spent most of his life there, while his father served in the Merchant Marines. According to George Paine’s nephew, George Hussey of Mattapoisett, his uncle moved to Fairhaven, MA in 1947 at 18 years of age.
Paine served in the United States Army in Co. H., 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. On November 30, 1950, Sgt. Paine was mortally wounded while participating in a battle near Koto-ri, North Korea. He received a Purple Heart and the Distinguished Service Cross posthumously.
According to a letter dated March 4, 1951, from Major General, General Chief of Staff, Leven C. Allen, Paine “distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enemy near Koto-ri, Korean. Sgt. Paine was with the leading element of the 2nd Battalion moving north to link up with friendly units, when the column was attacked by enemy who were entrenched and concentrated on high ground. Sgt. Paine located several enemy positions on a hillside from which automatic weapons and small arms were firing. Bravely and without regard for his own personal safety, he advanced alone against these positions, exposing himself to draw their fire from other elements of the column who were regrouping to take an attack. Sgt. Paine neutralized two enemy automatic weapons, permitting friendly troops to advance without casualties. Paine was killed in action during the attack.”
The 31st Infantry Regiment, known as the “Polar Bears” of the United States Army was formed on August 13, 1916. “The unit is rare in that it was formed and has spent most of its life on non-American soil,” according to Wikipedia.
Paine comes from a long line of military service with both his great-great-grandfather and father serving their country. Paine’s great-great grandfather, Alvin Hollis Paine Sr. was born in 1823 and served as a Corporal in the Civil War.
His son Alvin Hollis Jr., was born in Block Island, RI and moved to Fairhaven, MA, due to lack of work, settling on Sconticut Neck.
Alvin Hollis, Jr.’s son, Byron Hollis Paine, (George Paine’s father), was born in Fairhaven and attended the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. He went on to become an Ensign in the United States Navy, during WWI. He served as a pilot in the Panama Canal in 1927 to 1947 in the Merchant Marines and retired at the rank of Captain. According to George Hussey, his grandfather, Byron Hollis Paine, was the youngest pilot to serve in the Panama Canal.
After George Paine’s death, a camp in Korea was named after him, labeled “Camp Sgt. George Paine,” according to Hussey. It is unknown if the camp is in existence today.
The Paine family is buried in the Naskatucket Cemetery in Fairhaven, including George Paine, his mother, father, sisters: Margaret Hussey and her husband, Ralph and Prudence Barrett.