This is my mother's writing about her hero - her father. On this Memorial Day, I can't get him out of my head. Love you, Grandaddy. You are a hero to all of us.

"George Charles Shields, Jr. is the father of Catherine M. (Shields) Keller. I am she! I want all my children and posterity to know that my father was a great father to me and one of whom I am very proud. He always made me feel very special and gave me the confidence and good self-image that has seen me through some very difficult and sorrowful experiences in my life. He taught me to think for myself and to trust my instincts. He was a devout man and loved and respected my mother. He was a very loving and dutiful son to his parents.

I had the opportunity to see the results of this respect and love while I lived near his parents, sisters and brother in Fairmont, West Virginia. Dad always had time for me, no matter if he was at home or serving overseas in two wars. Yes, Dad was a military man first and always. He instilled in me a great love for my country and a great love for our flag.

Dad insisted upon honesty and truthfulness at all times. He did not need to discipline me very often as I never wanted to let him down. Dad was born in Elm Grove, Wheeling, West Virginia and moved to Fairmont, West Virginia at about the age of 13 years. He attended three years at West Virginia University where he majored in Civil Engineering. At the end of three years, he received an appointment to West Point Military Academy in New York. He accepted the appointment and traveled to Fort Hayes, Columbus, Ohio for his basic training before entering the academy. It was during this time that he met my mother while attending church services at the First Methodist Church on East Broad Street. (He had promised to attend church EVERY Sunday, per his mother's request). He was 21 yrs. of age and my mother was 17 yrs. of age. Remember, these were the days of the Roaring Twenties and several weeks later they were married secretly by mother's minister at her church. This, of course, meant no appointment at the academy. So, they started life together with Dad as a Private in the U.S.Army.

Dad was stationed at the Columbus Depot on the far east side of Columbus. It was while here that my elder brother, Georgie, was born. Soon, Dad was transferred to the Air Field at Mt. Clemens, Michigan and this was where I was born. Dad and Mother both spoke of the great times they had there and the great friends that they made. When I was three months old, Dad received his orders for a four year tour in China. He was to teach the Chinese how to build bridges using Coolie labor. He was a sergeant by this time and was recognized by his superiors as a very bright and learned young man.

Mother and Dad told me of many experiences they had while stationed in Tientsin. My brother, Georgie, was almost four years old and I was two years old when we both came down with Cholera. My dear brother Georgie died within three days. I was very ill also but was spared due to the quick action of my mother who insisted that the Army physician find someone familiar with this disease and treat me immediately. She, our physician, a nurse and I all traveled by train to Peking University where my life was saved by a doctor there using herbs that the Chinese had been using for thousands of years. I have been told that Georgie and I were very close and I have missed that big brother all my life. My grandmother told me that he was very smart and a very loving child. Mother and Dad's hearts were broken, I know. Mother never spoke of Georgie and it was only when I asked about a photo when I was much older that I saw in our family album, that I was told about this brother. I am so anxious to meet him again in the eternities.

I remember very little about China, but I remember the trip home as we sailed on the USS Grant (Troopship). We landed in San Francisco and then traveled to Mother's and then Dad's homes to visit with their parents. Dad's next assignment was at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. I remember this post very well and the big yard and nice, big house. We did not have servants here, as we had had in China, so Mother did not have the free time to just play with us as she had done in Tientsin.

Dad was then sent to Sault St. Marie, Michigan for three years to Officer's Candidate school to receive his officer's commission. During this time, Mother, my brother and I lived with my mother's mother and aunt in Columbus, Ohio. After Dad received his Lt. bars, we were sent to Ft. Sheridan, Ilinois. We lived off the post until we got quarters. We lived on the post for one year and then Dad was transfered to Ann Arbor, Michigan. He was teaching military law at the University of Michigan to new judge advocates that were going into the Army. While there, Dad received his orders to serve in the China-Burma-India Theater of War for the remainder of WW II.

Dad was made a Major while serving there. He spent 3 and a half years in the CBI theater. I grew from a little girl of 12 yrs to a young lady of 16 yrs while Dad was away. But, with weekly letters between us both, I still had my father with me. Dad wrote very interesting letters and always treated my questions and comments with respect and answered them all very helpfully. Dad returned home in May of 1946 and was sent to Chicago, Illinois where he was in charge of setting up a new supply depot there.

Mother and Dick (my younger brother) went with him and I was told to remain with my grandparents in Fairmont, West Virginia for my sophomore year at the same High School that Dad had graduated from years earlier. I had made numerous friends and loved all my relatives in Fairmont, West Virginia. We had moved there and rented a cute little home on Bryant St. while Dad served overseas. In May of 1947, Dad was transferred to the Columbus, Ohio Defense Depot. I left Fairmont, after school was out for the summer, and joined my family in Columbus, Ohio. I was 16 years old and, finally, our entire family was together again. Mother and Dad bought a house in Bexley (a suburb of Columbus) and I began my junior year at Bexley High. Dick was a freshman. I really was happy here.

After graduation, I entered Mt. Carmel School of Nursing and while there, Dad was sent overseas again for a 2yr. tour of duty in Japan. The family was to join him there, but while traveling to Japan, the Korean War broke out and Dad was routed immediately to Korea. He commanded an Infantry Batallian until a replacement from the Infantry arrived to replace him. But, he was stuck in Korea for the duration of the War. I did not see Dad until 1952 - almost 3 years later. By then, I had a little sister, Christine, who was born in Bexley in 1949. She was 5 months old when Dad went to Korea. Dad arrived home from Korea in May 1952 and was ordered to Brooklyn, N.Y. Mother and Christine joined him there at Fort Hamilton. My brother, Dick, was in college and I was married to my dear husband, Jack.

Dad was a contract procurement officer for all the armed services. While serving here, he became very ill with a heart condition that had been the result of two helicopter crashes behind enemy lines in Korea. He had spent two months hiding and finally getting back through enemy lines, but not without some damage to his heart. Dad was in the forties at that time. So, much to the disappointment of Dad, he was forced to take a medical retirement. He was a Lieuenant Colonel.
So, he and Mother and Christy came back to Columbus and retired here near me, my family and mother's mother and Aunt Tina.

Dad had several open-heart surgeries at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C. which gave him some prolonged years of fairly good health. He so enjoyed watching Christy grow up and was very active in his neighborhood government and the Central Ohio Girl Scout Council. He also enjoyed all his grandchildren and they did him. He was a wonderful grandfather to all my children. Dad passed away at the age of 68 yrs. from an acute attack of CHF. We all miss him terribly.

I feel very fortunate to have had him as a father and give him a lot of the credit for my values in life. May God Bless Him! If Dad had been able to continue his army career until age 70 (as he had always planned), he would have been a General for sure. Dad had written most of the texts that set the policy of the Quartermaster (supply) Corps and used this knowledge and expertise while supplying all the services just before his medical retirement in 1954. His legacy is vast."