GEORGE ROBERT ANDREWS, CAPTAIN, U.S. AIR FORCE, BIG SPRING, HOWARD COUNTY, TEXAS
AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Air Force Aviator Wings,  Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with 6 Oak Leaf Clusters, Purple Heart, Air Force Commendations Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal

BIOGRAPHY
George Robert Andrews was born and raised in Washington, D.C.  He was the youngest son of Mr. and Mrs. Don Daryl Andrews.  His father was a U.S. Patient Office Judge.  He attended Washington D.C. area schools, having attended Woodrow Wilson, he was a 1961 graduate of Bethesda-Chevy Chase high school. After he attended the University of Maryland.  In the summer, he was attending a wedding of friends and met his future wife, Dorothy Rebecca Hicks of Frederick, Maryland.   They married in June 1964 following her graduation from high school and his graduation from the University of Maryland. 

ROTC-University of Maryland-1964

Captain Andrews was a member of the Air Force ROTC program at the University of Maryland.  Upon graduation he received his B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering and a commission in the Air Force Reserves.  He had made application for flight school, but the date of an opening was not immediately available.  Dorothy and he became the parents of a daughter, Lorie born in 1965.  Dorothy indicated she became pregnant with their son, George Jr and they did not have insurance, so Captain Andrews pushed to get a date for flight school.  That date finally came, and the family moved to Big Spring in September 1966, where Captain Andrews began flight school with Class 68-A at Webb Air Force Base.  Shortly thereafter, George Jr. was born.  

Dorothy Andrews Pin Lieutenant Bars on 2LT George Andrews-1964

After graduating from flight school in 1967, he received training as a C-130 pilot and was sent to Vietnam for this first tour.  While in Vietnam, his wife lived in Big Spring.  After completing his tour in 1968, he returned to Webb and acted as a flight instructor.  He applied for F-100 training and was sent to Luke Air Force Base near Phoenix to upgrade enroute to Vietnam for his second tour. 

Pilot Training-Webb Air Force Base-1967

Lt. George Andrews, Dorothy, Lori and George Jr-Webb Air Force Base 1967

He started his second tour as a Captain and as a member of the 615th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 35th Tactical Fighter Wing, 7th Air Force flying out of Phang Rang Air Base. While in Vietnam, he received his appointment to the Regular Air Force.  On October  15, 1969, Captain Andrews was flying F-100D tail number 56-3069 on a close air support mission near Thy Dong, about 30 miles east of Saigon.  His aircraft was hit by ground fire as he was making a weapons run against an enemy sampan.  He was flying as a part of a two aircraft sorty.  His wingman saw him make the run and as as he was pulling up, Captain Andrews' aircraft suddenly went nose down and rolled into the ground.  No chutes or any distress was seen or heard.  The crash was not survivable. 

Captain Andrews was buried with full military honors at the Jefferson Reform Church Cemetery in Jefferson, Frederick County, Maryland.  He was survived by his wife and two children of Big Spring, Texas and his parents, Mr and Mrs. Don Daryl Andrews of Washington, D.C.  He was also survived by his two brothers, Don Daryl Andrews, Jr and James W. Andres of Kensington, Maryland and by his sister, Mrs. Robert Moberly of Missouri. 

On April 11, 1970, his wife was presented his posthumous awards of the Purple Heart, and the Distinguished Flying Cross along with his Air Force Commendation's Medal and 7 awards of the Air Medal. in a ceremony at Webb Air Force Base in Big Spring, Texas.  An alert facility at Phang Rang Air Force base was named in honor of Captain Andrews.  The presentation speaker was B.G. Walter T.Galligan, the Commanding General of the 35th Tactical Flighter Wing.   The medals were presented by Colonel Anderson W. Atkinson, Wing Commander at Webb Air Force Base.

Captain Andrews' widow remained in Big Spring, Texas where she raised the two children  She used her Air Force survivor's benefits to complete her education.  He attended Howard College and then commuted to Odessa to complete both a bachelor' and masters degrees in Education and Psychology from the University of Texas of the Permian Basin in Odessa, Texas.   She has been a teacher with the Big Spring Independent School district since 1975.   She remarried in 1980 to Randal Britton, a fellow teacher and coach.  The couple are the parents of a  son born in Big Spring in 1982.  Both of Captain Andrews' children graduated from Big Spring High School. His daughter, Lorie Pavlovsky  is a teacher and is the mother to two daughters.  She lives in Snyder, Texas.  George Robert Andrews, Junior has followed in his father's footsteps. After high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Army.  He has tours in Korea, once as an enlisted man and another as an officer.  He  is a Major in the Virginia National Guard and is serving in Afghanistan as of 2009.  He is the father of three children, two sons and a daughter. 

 

Jefferson Reform Church Cemetery, Jefferson, Maryland