LTC George D. Bertish

He was born January 25, 1936 in Vienna, Austria, a son of Max and Matilda (Dinger) Bertisch. His father went to Switzerland in 1939 to avoid conscription into the Nazi army and worked as a courier for the underground. In 1941, George and his mother caught the last train going from occupied Europe to Russia, where they then took the Trans-Siberian Railroad and ended up in Manchuria. From there they took a boat to Japan and sailed from Yokohama to Seattle, where they caught a train to New York City, and eventually settled in Elizabeth, New Jersey, with Max rejoining them in 1945.

After graduating high school, he attended Rutgers University where he received his BA degree. George fulfilled his ROTC commitment at Fort Holabird, MD where he worked in Military Intelligence. George then joined the Pinkerton Agency in Newark and worked as an undercover detective before becoming an IRS Officer enforcing revenue codes and seizing property from delinquent taxpayers, all while being a member of the US Army Reserve.

In August 1963, George once again went on active duty with the Army and was sent to Fort Bliss, TX for air defense training, later serving at HQ Commandants’ Office and the HQ of air defense command NORAD. In 1964 he transferred to the Air Defense Battalion at Fort Snelling, MN where he was promoted to Captain and served as the battery commander there. In May of 1966, George was sent to Vietnam with the 2nd Battalion, 33rd Field Artillery, where he was the Logistics Officer (S-4) at Lai Khe in the very dangerous War Zone C, just outside of the Iron Triangle. In June of 1967 he transferred to Fort Sill, OK, for advanced training courses, then back to Fort Bliss, TX to the modern weapons division.

In April of 1970, George was sent back to Vietnam as a member of a joint Advisory Team at Ba Xuyen Province. As Operations Officer (S-3), he was responsible for all military operations in that province. He worked with the Province Chief (equivalent to governor) and his military staff, planning operations and coordinating between the USA and the Army of South Vietnam. His tour finished, he moved to Canyon, TX in 1971 where he met his wife, Theora, and they married in November of that year. He also received his Master's Degree in Business Administration at West Texas State University and later became an ROTC instructor there.

In 1975, George and family moved to Fort Leavenworth, KS where he attended Command and General Staff College (CGSC) and graduated with honors and was promoted to the rank of Lt. Colonel in 1976. He was stationed there for the next three years where he ran the Combined Arms Tactical Training System, a computer generated simulated battle system which trained Battalion and Brigade Commanders in case of an attack on the Sinai Peninsula.

George and family moved to Germany in 1979, where he served at European Command (EUCOM) as an Operations Training Staff officer at Patch Barracks in Stuttgart. In 1982, he and his family transferred to Allied Forces Central Europe (AFCENT) in Brunssum, the Netherlands. At AFCENT George was the Officer in Charge (OIC) of Able Archer 83, a defensive exercise against the Soviet Union, which he made so realistic that the Soviets monitoring the situation thought that the USA was preparing to initiate World War 3, and resulted in President Ronald Reagan ending the exercise prematurely to prevent war.

George was also the OIC of CRISEX, the first ever joint military exercise between the USA and Spain. For his efforts, the King of Spain awarded George the Spanish Cross of the Order of Military Merit, First Class, and made him a Don (akin to being knighted). George was honorably discharged from the Army after serving 23 years active duty and 3 reserve. After military retirement he taught business administration courses at Oklahoma University, then moved to Palm Coast to teach at the FAA center for

Management Development. Subsequent teaching assignments followed at the University of Central Florida, Daytona Beach Community College and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. He taught at ERAU for 10 years and rose to the position of Director of Special Training Programs. In 2005 he began teaching management classes at Palmer College of Chiropractic, and soon thereafter became their Director of Institutional Support.

George leaves his wife of 51 years, Theora Bertish, a daughter, Scarlett of Arlington Texas, and two sons, Shane (Jordan) of St. Croix and Eric of Palm Coast. His sister, Frieda Ziering (Arthur), lives in Phoenix, Arizona.

Family and friends will be received Thursday, August 10th from 9:00-10:00 AM at Craig-Flagler Palms Funeral Home, with services held at 10:00 AM. Full Military honors will follow his memorial service, with interment at Jacksonville National Cemetery immediately afterwards.

Condolences may be sent to the Bertish family by visiting

www.CraigFlaglerPalms.com.