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751. Pensacola's November Loss 11-28-1951 Korea

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Updated: Feb 27, 2022

US Army PFC George Curtis Sutton was born in Pensacola, Florida on February 10, 1930, the son of William Bryan Sutton (1898-1982) and Carrie Mae Curtis (1904-1963). William took a job in Pensacola as a machinist at the Navy Yard prior to marrying Carrie in 1925. By 1930, they were living with his mother-in-law along with their two sons at 314 East Gadsden Street while William was a railroad switchman for the L&N Railroad Company. After Carrie passed away in 1963, William would marry again to Lillie Mae Whirley Riley of Bagdad, Florida. William would pass away in 1982 after a career with the L&N of forty-two years. He was a native of Walton County and came to Pensacola after he enlisted in the US Navy prior to WWI on January 3, 1916. He was assigned to the USS North Carolina at Pensacola before being transferred to the USS Florida on April 6, 1917. He would serve aboard the Florida as a coxswain until his discharge in Boston, MA on October 29, 1919.


Their son George would grow up in Pensacola and attend all of the local schools including Pensacola High School where he graduated in 1948. Upon completion, he enrolled and attended Florida State University for two years. At that point, he left college and enlisted in the US Army on July 11, 1950. After basic training, he was sent to Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania, the home of the 5th Infantry Division. There, the army set about training 32,000 troops as replacements for the fighting in Korea.


During his tour of duty there, he also found time to marry Miss Nancy Carolyn Heath (1934-2014) on July 7, 1951 at Christ Episcopal Church. She was the daughter of Jesse Leroy Heath (1910-1992) and Alicia Frances Crooke (1909-2002). She would graduate from Pensacola High School in 1951 and planned to enroll in the Florida State College for Women in August 1951. She was also the granddaughter of Dr. Henry Oliver Heath (1874-1966) and Mattie Ellen Shreve (1876-1945) who married in 1905 and lived at 108 W. Avery Street.


After almost three months of marriage, George was sent to Korea on September 29, 1951 and assigned to Company "B", 1st Battalion of the 21st Infantry Regiment attached to the 24th Infantry Regiment. By the time he arrived, his division was in a seesaw battle with the North Korea and Chinese forces. The enemy had launched a counteroffensive in April 1951 that drove the UN troops back to Seoul. There, they held the line until launching a counter offensive of their own in September driving the enemy back up north. In November, the Chinese sallied forth again to counter the United Nations attack. Their offensive failed as each side began pushing back and forth with neither making any significant headway. Finally, the stalemate convinced both antagonists to begin the peace talks. But for PFC George Curtis Sutton it was too late. During the fighting on November 28, 1951, a Chinese mortar struck the young Pensacolian causing critical head wounds that killed the young soldier.


His remains were turned over to the grave registration company who prepared him to be shipped back home to his family. The War Department contacted his wife and notified her that her husband had been killed. In late February 1952, his body arrived back in Pensacola and was buried with full military honors in Bayview Cemetery.


The following year, his wife would attend a dance where a band from the US Air Force was playing. One of those musicians happen to be John Milton Barker (1928-) and one thing led to another and the two were married in 1952. From 1955 to 1957 John was supporting their family by working as an apprentice for the Peake-McMorris Electric Co. Nancy would eventually pass away in 2014 and was buried in the Bayview Cemetery.



















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