Andy Anderson, "Blood, Sweat and Tears:"
Capt. George W. Rarey of Enid, Oklahoma and Washington, D.C., who came to the 379th in Bradley Field, Connecticut, as a lieutenant and an original flight leader, was one of the most talented guys I had ever met. There was also no question that he was one of the best liked men of the squadron among enlisted men and officers alike. He had an enormous talent for art and maintained an extensive collection of drawings of fellow pilots which were remarkably accurate. He was also an accomplished caricaturist and cartoonist with a fertile imagination and mind. A pilot would tell Capt. Rarey something about himself, his likes, his interests, his dreams, and Capt. Rarey would come up with an insignia and nickname for him fitting him to a "T." Then he would transfer it in a painting on the nose of the pilot's P-47. Of all the aircraft art I witnessed, and I witnessed a lot, the work created by Capt. Rarey for the 379th Fighter Squadron was the most clever and professionally done. His own P-47 was named "Damon's Demon" and featured a caricature of a chubby bird of some unknown breed (lovingly called a "Rarey bird" by his fellow pilots) sitting atop an 8-ball, smoking a pipe in his very large bill, and holding a dripping paintbrush. The bird's one visible eye pointed skyward like he was thinking some evil thought. All this artistic talent was shrouded by a fierce determination and bravery within the man. I can remember at one time Capt. Rarey had flown 63 missions without ever turning back as an "abort" for any reason. When he failed to return from a mission on June 27, 1944, the entire group, led by his crew chief S/Sgt. John W. Benson from Menomie, Wisconsin, accepted his fate in stunned silence. One never gets over the loss of a guy like this one.

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