Hometown: Birmingham, AL
Branch: U.S. Army 
Unit: 2nd Battalion, 29th Quartermaster Regiment
Military Honors: Medal of Honor, Distinguished Service Cross, Purple Heart
Date of Sacrifice: March 8, 1943 - KIA near Porloch Harbor, New Guinea
Age: 28
Conflict: World War II, 1939-1945

As a young boy in Starkville, Mississippi, George Watson loved to fish and swim with his brothers. Their parents were sharecroppers (tenant farmers). George was born on March 14, 1914, and excelled in school—especially math.

By the time George was a young man, the country and the world were mired in the worst economic downturn since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. The Great Depression (1929-1939) saw America’s banking system collapse and a quarter of the country’s labor force unemployed.

George realized that rural Starkville held little promise for work to pay for his dream of attending college. He traveled east and moved in with his widowed grandmother in Birmingham, Alabama. The move also meant that his family had one less mouth to feed.

Although jobs were hard to find everywhere in the country, George found work as a janitor in a private club, earning $624 a year. According to his National Park Service bio:

In 1934, Birmingham had a large fire in a department store that caused more than $3 million in damage. The national press coverage of the fire spurred a public investment initiative in the city, allowing the fire department to hire more firefighters. Watson saw this as his opportunity to earn money for college and be able to serve his community. He applied and was hired later that year.

Watson’s college dream came true five years later. By the fall of 1939, he had saved enough money to travel to Fort Collins, Colorado, and enroll in Colorado A&M’s Engineering School.

His studies were cut short as the United States was thrust into World War II (1939-1945) with the surprise Japanese attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7, 1941.

George Watson was drafted into the United States Army on September 1, 1942. At the time, racial segregation in the military was a harsh reality and black soldiers were frequently limited to non-combat roles.

Private Watson was sent to Camp Lee—near Petersburg, Virginia—for basic training, and assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 29th Quartermaster Regiment. The 29th was an all-black unit that managed the logistics of supplying Army field units.

After a final round of training in Charleston, South Carolina, on December 27, 1942, Pvt. Watson’s 29th Quartermaster Regiment shipped out from Newport News, Virginia aboard the USS Hermitage (AP-54).

The month-long journey to the Pacific Theater of Operations sailed through the Panama Canal and across the ocean to Brisbane, Australia, arriving there on January 31, 1943.

Imperial Japan threatened to continue its expansion through New Guinea and further south to Australia. As part of an Allied South Pacific Offensive led by Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Pvt. Watson’s 29th Regiment participated in Operation Lilliput—an ongoing series of convoys to ferry troops, weapons, and supplies between Milne Bay and Oro Bay, New Guinea.

On March 8, 1943, Pvt. Watson was aboard the ‘s Jacob, a Dutch steamer converted to a U.S. Army Transport ship. Japanese aircraft were targeting Allied supply lines and shipping lanes between Australia and New Guinea. The National Park Service describes the events of that afternoon:

At 1 p.m. on March 8, 1943, Watson was on deck taking in the fresh air when shipboard alarms started to sound. Thirteen nautical miles from Porlock Bay, New Guinea, two squadrons of Japanese bombers and fighter planes appeared. Although the convoy’s escort ships were able to hold off the first wave of bombers, the second wave [was] able to get through to the Jacob. Three bombs made direct hits, propelling sailors and soldiers into the ocean and starting a fire on deck. The water pumps on board malfunctioned, making it impossible to extinguish the fire. The captain gave the order to abandon ship. Within minutes the Jacob was listing heavily to the starboard side, rapidly sinking.

George Watson and his friend Sergeant James E. Guilford, Jr., jumped in the ocean to escape. Watson, a strong swimmer, refused a life jacket before jumping. Guilford did not know how to swim, and even with a life jacket, the 40-foot jump from the ship’s deck pushed him deep under water. Watson dove down to grab his friend and assist him to a nearby raft. As Watson made sure Guilford was safe, he saw other soldiers in the water struggling to survive. Watson swam to them one by one and assisted them to rafts and other floating debris surrounding the sinking ship. Watson saved many men, but he was pushing exhaustion.

Pvt. Watson’s selfless actions in battle earned him the Distinguished Service Cross, the Army’s second-highest military decoration.

More than 50 years later, President Bill Clinton’s administration acted on a Shaw University effort to nominate outstanding black soldiers from World War II for Medal of Honor consideration—a recognition that was rarely considered for black soldiers during a time of segregation in the military.

In a ceremony on January 13, 1997, Pvt. Watson’s Distinguished Service Cross was upgraded to the Medal of Honor. His citation reads:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty: Private George Watson distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism on 8 March 1943, while serving in the Pacific Command with the 2d Battalion, 29th Quartermaster Regiment, near Porlock Harbor, New Guinea.

Private Watson was onboard a troop ship, the Dutch Steamer (United States Army Transport) Jacob, when it was attacked and hit by enemy bombers. Before it sank, the ship was abandoned. Private Watson, instead of seeking to save himself, remained in deep waters long enough to assist several soldiers who could not swim to reach the safety of a life raft. This heroic action, which subsequently cost him his life, resulted in saving the lives of several of his comrades.

Weakened by continuous physical exertion and overcome by muscular fatigue, Private Watson drowned when the suction of the sinking ship dragged him beneath the surface of the swirling waters. His demonstrated bravery and unselfish act set in motion a train of compelling events that finally led to American victory in the Pacific. Private Watson's extraordinary valorous actions, his daring and inspiring leadership, and his self-sacrificing devotion to his fellow man exemplify the finest traditions of military service.

Private George Watson is listed as “buried at sea,” and is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in Taguig City, the Philippines. In July of 1997, the U.S. Navy launched the cargo transport ship USNS Watson (T-AKR-310), named in his honor.

Sources
Artist’s rendering by Craig Du Mez, from original photo
National Parks Service: George Watson
U.S. Army | Transportation Corps: Unit History—29th Transportation Battalion
Australian War Memorial: Allies in adversity, Australia and the Dutch in the Pacific War: Karsik and Tramsik: Operation Lilliput
The National WWII Museum: Private George Watson’s Medal of Honor
Congressional Medal of Honor Society: George Watson
Naval History and Heritage Command: Private George Watson
Burial Site: Find a Grave