Biographical Note
George Washington Pearcy was born April 22, 1915, in St. Louis, Missouri, to Frances Johnston Pearcy and Claude Otis Pearcy. He was educated at Sherman School, Roosevelt High School, and at Washington University, where he earned his degree in law in 1940. While attending Washington University, Pearcy trained with the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) at Fort Sheridan, Illinois, and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army upon completion of his degree.
In 1940, Pearcy applied for active duty, and served at Camp Robinson, Arkansas, and Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, before being shipped to the Philippines. He initially served at Corregidor with the 60th Coast Artillery, and then Clark Field, where he trained as an aerial observer with the 2nd Observation Squadron of the Army Air Forces. In July 1941, Pearcy was permanently reassigned to the Army Air Forces. He was then transferred to Nichols Field, where he was stationed at the outbreak of World War II. He served at Bataan and then Corregidor, until US forces in the Philippines surrendered to the Japanese on May 6, 1942.
Pearcy was taken prisoner by Japanese forces, and was held as a prisoner of war (POW) at Bilibid Prison, Cabanatuan Prison, and Davao Penal Colony. In 1944, despite poor health, Pearcy boarded the Arisan Maru prison ship for transport to Japan. He was killed on October 24, 1944, when the Arisan Maru was hit by a torpedo strike from an American submarine.