Preddy Jr, George Earl, born 05-02-1919 in Greensboro, Guilford County,
North Carolina. son of Georg Preddy Sr and mother Clara Preddy












Death and burial ground of Preddy Jr George Earl.




Preddy was killed by “friendly fire” on the morning of 25-12-1944, age 25. As commanding officer of the 328th Fighter Squadron, 352nd FG, he was leading a formation of 10 P-51s. They had been patrolling for about three hours when they were directed to assist in a dogfight already in progress. Preddy destroyed two Messerschmitt Bf 109s before being vectored to a lone Focke-Wulf Fw 190 strafing Allied ground forces southeast of Liege, Belgium. As the Fw 190, Preddy’s P-51,
and two other P-51s passed over the Allied front line at treetop height, a US Army anti-aircraft (AA) battery (believed to be part of the 430th AA Battalion, XIX Corps
) fired at the Fw 190 but missed and instead hit all three P-51s. Preddy managed to release his canopy but was unable to bail out before his aircraft hit the ground at high speed and a low angle. He had a chance of surviving the crash but his wounds from .50-caliber fire were mortal


Preddy Jr, George Earl is buried on the Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial Saint-Avold, Departement de la Moselle, Lorraine, France. Preddy’s brother William “Bill”
, five years younger then his brother, a P-51 pilot with the 503rd Fighter Squadron, 339th Fighter Group
, was later buried alongside him at the Lorraine American Cemetery, Saint Avold, France. William died in today’s Czech Republic on 17-04-1945, age 21, just days before the war in Europe ended, from wounds he sustained when he was shot down by enemy AA fire, while strafing Ceske Budejovice airfield. Bill’s plot is A, Row 21, Grave 42. General John Charles Meyer
, who was the fourth ranking American ace in the ETO (European Theater of Operations) and Preddy’s squadron commander for more than a year, wrote: “I have never met a man of… such intense desire to excel…. George Preddy was the complete fighter pilot.” Meyer died of a heart attack on 02-12-1975, age 25 and is buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.







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