ENS GEORGE M. FENNELL, JR., USN
Lucky Bag Yearbook
From the 1958 Lucky Bag:
GEORGE MATTHEW FENNELL, JR.
Loss
George was lost on September 21, 1958 when the training aircraft he was piloting crashed near Pensacola, Florida.
Other Information
From The New York Age on October 4, 1958:
Shortly after his graduation with top honors from the Annapolis Naval Academy in June this year, 21-year-old Ensign George M. Fennell, Jr., commenting on a Negro’s future in the Navy, declared: “Like so many other places people are going to watch you more closely because you are a Negro. But it’s up to the individual to show his stuff. If he comes through good. If he doesn’t, that’s too bad.” On Sunday, Sept. 21, the Navy announced the death of Ensign Fennell in a plane crash during a training flight at the Naval airbase in Pensacola, Florida. He died in the service of his country. He had “shown his stuff.”
Military Honors. A military funeral for the Brooklyn Ensign was held Thursday afternoon at the Long Island National Cemetery at Pine Lawn The following Sunday, a memorial service was held for him at the Siloam Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn has set up a Citizenship Award in his name at the four schools he attended before entering the Navy. They are The Brooklyn Tech, P.S. 45 - 47 - 42.
The late Ensign’s naval career began immediately after his graduation with honor from Brooklyn Technical High School in 1954. He reported to Annapolis and graduated with distinction from the Academy last June. He capped his scholastic record there, by winning the Jack Cobb Moore Award for attaining highest marks for the course in naval aviation. On August 10 be was assigned with other classmates to Pensacola, Florida to begin training as a Navy flier.
Writing to his parents the day before his death, young Fennell explained that in another nine-weeks his training period would be over and he was anticipating an easier pace during those weeks. This last letter from a boy to his mom and dad was found in his quarters after his tragic accident and forwarded to the parents. They received it the day after their boy’s funeral.
His parents are George Fennell, retired employe of the American Casualty Co. in Manhattan, and his mother Evelyn, a teacher at P.S. 20 at Adelphi and Willoughby in Brooklyn.
From researcher Kathy Franz:
In February 1954, George tied for third place in an essay contest on the subject “The Grand Jury – Cornerstone of American Justice.” The contest was sponsored by the Kings County Grand Jurors’ Association. George received a $25 bond.
According to the Brooklyn Eagle on June 23, 1954, George won the American History and Civics Award of the American Legion in 1950. He attained the honor roll at Brooklyn Tech.
He was a member of the Boy Scouts’ honorary Order of the Arrow. In 1949 he was awarded a scholarship by the Greater New York Boy Scout Council to study public speaking. He made several radio and television appearance in the Council’s financial campaign.
He served for two seasons as an assistant scoutmaster at the camp at Ten Mile River.
A member of Siloam Presbyterian Church, where he taught Sunday school, he served as a member of the Junior Usher Board, the Chapel Choir, and played on the church basketball team.
George is buried in New York.
Photographs
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George is one of 28 members of the Class of 1958 on Virtual Memorial Hall.
