Highly decorated during World War II, his awards included the ASIATIC PACIFIC SERVICE MEDAL, DISTINGUISHED UNIT BADGE, GOOD CONDUCT and the PHILIPPINES LIBERATION RIBBON.

At the end of his service he was declared the "Luckiest man in the U.S. Army" due to many close calls with the enemy.

A Jap sub sank a Ferry Boat in which he was riding in the Harbor of Sydney, Australia. He escaped death by swimming to shore.

Shrapnel from a 500 pound Jap bomb made "Swiss Cheese" of a jeep he was driving during a raid in New Guinea. Hiding in a slit trench during another bombing raid, he had machine gun bullets spray around him and shared the trench with a 500 pound bomb that landed beside him, but luckily it was a dud.

The finale came when a Jap sniper put three shots through the windshield of a truck-trailer combination he was driving one day in Luzon. In the trailer behind were 4000 gallons of highly explosive 100-octane gasoline.

He served three years in combat receiving a discharge (22 June 1945) after contracting Malaria.

George is the son of Irving Clifton Reese deceased, and Reva Mae Gorden Tyler of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. His sister and brothers are Luva Reese, James Reese, and Wesley Reese.

George married the former Dorothy Irene Shaffer of DuBois, Pennsylvania on June 21, 1947. Dorothy (now deceased) had been briefly married near the wars end which resulted in the birth of her son Gerald Vernon, adopted by George. They went on to have three more children, a son, Edward Clifton Reese, and two daughters, Kathy Irene Reese and Sandra Jean Reese.