George Geis was a boyfriend of Dot's and a sailor. She wrote to him while he was away on the U.S.S. Saratoga.

Notes:

• My mother saved a newspaper clipping in her diary:

Former Southtowner Dies When Japs Sink Saratoga

A former Southtowner who was killed along with 35 men February 21 when the Saratoga was bombed off Iwo Jima is included among the area's five men who have been killed in battle, the war department has announced since Wednesday.

He was Seaman George Geis, 18 years old, son of Mr. and Mrs. George Geis, Sr., 1762 Wells St., formerly of 6511 Parnell Ave.

• U.S. Navy:

"On 21 February 1945, Saratoga was detached with an escort of three destroyers to join the amphibious forces and carry out night patrols over Iwo Jima and night heckler missions over nearby Chi-chi Jima. However, as she approached her operating area at 1700 on the 21st, an air attack developed, and taking advantage of low cloud cover and Saratoga's insufficient escort, six Japanese planes scored five hits on the carrier in three minutes. Saratoga's flight deck forward was wrecked, her starboard side was holed twice and large fires were started in her hangar deck, while she lost 123 of her crew dead or missing."

Sis comments: "George Geis was a sailor on the U.S.S. Saratoga. He was a gunner's mate, I believe. He was sort of a "pick up" when she first met him. You might want to know the details, as they were sort of funny. Dot and I were away from home, probably at Parnell's, and when we came to our house there were two guys, one in uniform, and our Aunt Marge and the girl next door, Betty, Marge's friend. Well, they told us that some fellow they knew, in the service, knew Betty and wanted them to say hello when they came in. We bought the story and one thing led to another and George Geis asked your mom out and his buddy Geo. Riley and I hit it off pretty good so we double-dated and I believe our first date was Riverview. Big spenders, too! Also Geo. Riley had a car--a rarity in those War years! I can't remember how many more times Dot had a chance to date George Geis before he went back to the Saratoga. Geo. Riley and I dated some after that but I can't remember if they also were with us. Well, some time after that, Dot (I'm going to identify your mom by the name I called her, if you don't mind.) got a letter from George and he told her that the fellow Betty knew was killed in action. When she told Aunt Marge that, she started to half-laugh and half-cry when she told Betty. We couldn't figure it out as she went to Betty's next door. Well, we found out later she was laughing as this "fellow" never existed! They made it up and then did away with him and it was a joke amongst the four of them. You see, both of these "Georges" tried to "pick up" Marge and Betty and as they were both not only married, but mothers too, they of course turned them down. But they said maybe her nieces would be interested. We didn't find out any of this until a long time afterwards. They all decided to keep it a secret. The ironic part of all of this was the fact that George Geis did meet this fate. Dot liked George but I don't think he was the "love of her life". He was a great guy and a lot of fun to be with."

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