Georges aplenty

Photo by Paul Robeson

GEORGE FIVE: The five men named George at the Anderson VFW Post 9650 in Anderson. Seated in front, left to right, are “Crazy George” and “Mikey George.” Standing, left to right, are “Tabasco George,” “White House George” and “Cal Trans George.”

George has always been a popular name. Names like George Walton, George Washington, Lake George, President George Bush, and George Patton all bring recognizable thoughts to mind. But what if all those Georges were together at one time? How would one identify them? The above examples are relatively easy, but what if they were all near the same age and were all in the same organization?

The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), Post 9650, in Anderson has five active members with the name George.

Each George goes by a nickname and each George is unique.

There is “Cal Trans” George, “White House” George, “Mikey” George, “Tabasco George” and “Crazy George.”

“White House” George is really George Scheider. He retired after 21 years in the Air Force and 20 more years from Lockheed Martin. This George, 70, is called “White House” because the house he purchased in Anderson nine years ago “looked like the White House in Washington, D.C.” In a Valley Post news article by Virginia Reeter, she took a picture of him in front of his house. The article was posted on the VFW bulletin board and his name was born. He is currently the post chaplain.

“Cal Trans” George is George Russ, flag chairman at the post. Cal Trans George, 62, was in the Army National Guard in a Nike-Ajax Missile Unit and in Vietnam as a Merchant Marine in 1966-67. When he was driving bus for Greyhound they called him Greyhound George. Then he went to work for Cal Trans and they called him Cal Trans George. The name stuck that time.

Another Army Missile Command veteran is George “Tabasco” Meyer. He said he got the name when he was in the army when he put Tabasco sauce on his food.

“You know how bad army food can be,” he said. “I started with the Tabasco sauce and have been using it since.”

Tabasco George, 69, even puts the red sauce into his beer glass before a beer is poured and is known by that same name at the Moose Lodge and the American Legion.

“He puts it on everything,” said “Mikey” George, “but he claims he has no stock in the McIlhenny Company who makes the Tabasco sauce.”

Mikey George, or George Michael Rhodes, was named by “Judy the bartender” at the VFW post. She told him there were four veterans named George so he had to have a different name.

Mikey George, 60, is a retired naval veteran with 21 years to his credit. He also served in Vietnam and sometimes goes by “T-bird Mike” as he uses a motorized wheel chair to maneuver around the VFW post.

The other four Georges laughed when Mikey George said he married Crazy George’s cousin twice. Mikey George had been married, divorced from his first wife for 29 years, and then remarried her two years ago.

“Crazy George,” who is also listed in the phone book by that name, and has that name on his checks, just laughed when his friends said “just talk to Crazy George a minute or two and you will know why they call him that.”

Crazy George Horner, 71, is a retired trucker. He had served in the Navy as a signalman in 1954-58 on seaplane tenders and on the aircraft carrier USS Bennington (CVA-20).

Crazy George lived up to his name when someone dared him to climb a telephone pole nude when he was living in Grass Valley. He apparently took the bet, got his climbing rope and went up the pole, sans clothes. Near the top of the telephone pole the rope slipped and he couldn’t go up or down. The fire department had to come and rescue him.

The five men named George all enjoy the company of each other and the camaraderie the VFW offers.

“We don’t sit around and talk about war,” said Cal Trans George Russ.

“We were all there, we know what it is about, so we don’t talk about it,” he continued.

“The nice thing about the VFW is that if you are out of town and go to another VFW, you are welcomed and you are made to feel at home.”