05/27/2025
I always think of one person on Memorial Day and I would like to share a brief bio of George Raymond Dreher Sr. (my grandfather) who gave his life fighting in WWII.
He was born on November 29, 1919, in East Orange, Essex, NJ. His father, Raymond Carl Dreher (1893–1976) was 26 and his mother, Helen L. Dunham (1898–1984) was 21 when they adopted George as an infant.
The family lived in East Orange, NJ, and then moved to Wellesley, MA. After he graduated from Wellesley HS in 1937, George did a post-graduate year at Exeter Academy, Exeter, NH. He was an outstanding athlete and played football, ice hockey and baseball for Exeter.
George had a roommate at Exeter named Donald Miles from Wakefield, MA. George met Don’s sister Carolyn, his future wife, when he was at Exeter. At Harvard, George was the captain of the hockey team and played football. He graduated in 1942 and began working for an insurance company in Boston.
George’s classification as 4F, due to trace amounts of blood in his urine—a harmless yet disqualifying condition—made this period difficult for him. He endured taunts such as “I see you’re not in uniform, bub”. Eventually, he used someone else’s urine to successfully enlist to fight as a Marine.
George and Carolyn planned a wedding for December 26, 1942, but George could not get leave so it had to be canceled. When George’s Aunt Marjorie and Uncle George, who lived in Short Hills, NJ, heard about the problem, they offered that the couple could get married in their home on Christmas Day. They accepted.
The local minister came to their house and performed the ceremony between his two Christmas services at the church. George was supposed to be in Quantico. His friends in the barracks stuffed his bed with clothes to make it seem as if he were there. Fortunately, he was not caught.
George and Carolyn had their honeymoon riding a bus from NJ back to Quantico where George got off. George and Carolyn got to spend some time together before George was sent to California where he was deployed.
George left the US in March of 1943. He was in the 3rd Marine Division. At that time, they did not know Carolyn was pregnant. His son (also George Raymond Dreher) was born in November 1943 and never met his own father.
George Sr. died July 23, 1944, in Guam, at the age of 24 and was buried in National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Honolulu, Oahu, Honolulu, Hawaii.
In January of 1945, George Sr.’s widow accepted the Bronze Star Medal awarded to 1st Lt. George R. Dreher, USMCR, for “heroic achievement against the J**s at Bougainville”. The award was presented at Marine Corps headwaters by Maj. Barry W. Bacon.
The incident was reported by the Associated Press:
“Wakefield Marine Shoots Two J**s at Bouigainville (Soloman Islands - AP)
“A dozen Japanese who had sense enough to get out of the rain were killed or wounded by a patrol of Marines who went walking in a cloudburst. Capt. Douglas Whipple, Minneapolis, said his 26-man patrol penetrated into the middle of an enemy command post in a torrential rain.
“The guards were taking shelter under thatched roofs,” the captain said. “We advanced past empty foxholes and thought the area unoccupied until scouts reported J**s on both flanks and in front.
“One was shot by PFC Thomas Robertson, 21, Pikesville, Tenn.
“Other Japanese stuck their heads up for a look around and 2nd Lieut. George Dreher of 30 Sheffield Road, Wakefield, Mass. accounted for the pair.
“Lieut. George R. Dreher, 24, is married to the former Carolyn Miles of Wakefield. He was graduated from Harvard College in 1942 and on the hockey and football quads. Prior to entering the Marines, he worked for a Boston insurance firm. He went overseas last April. He is the only son of Lieut. Col and Mrs.Raymond C. Dreher formerly of Wellesley Hills. Lieut. Col. Dreher is attached to the Army Air Force at Presque Isle, Me.”
