George Gobel, WWII, US Army Air Corps (1940s)

Entertaining troops in Vietnam

George Leslie Goebel (Comedian)

b. 20 May 1919 - d. 24 Feb 1991
Flight Instructor, WWII, US Army Air Corps

You know him as a comedian and comedic actor who rose to fame in the 1950s with his television variety show and his character "Lonesome George". After graduating high school in Chicago, Gobel was working as a DJ in St Louis when WWII came calling. George served in the United States Army Air Forces as a flight instructor in AT-9 aircraft at Altus, Oklahoma and later in B-26 Marauder bombers at Frederick, Oklahoma... he was never stationed overseas and had a sense of humor about his time in the service. In the 1969 clip from the Tonight Show below - George hilariously recounted his time as a flight instructor with three fellow veterans, Bob Hope (USO), Dean Martin (USArmy) and Johnny Carson (US Navy). His stage entrance is around the 11:30 mark... I suggest you take the time to watch - the late night couch was hosting some cigarette-smoke-tinged-yet-quite-rarified air that night. 

The Lucky Lady III, Lady Victoria and Lonesome George, 1957. Photo: Life Magazine  Read about the historic flight

1957 •  Bombers B-52

In 1957, three B-52 Stratofortress bombers made the first nonstop round-the-world flight by turbojet aircraft. One of the aircraft was christened "Lonesome George." The crew appeared on George Gobel's primetime television show and recounted their mission which took them 45 hours and 19 minutes. Read about the historic flight here.

This record-breaking around the world flight was dramatized in the 1957 Warner Bros. movie “Bombers B-52,” which starred Natalie Wood, Karl Malden and Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.

And in other news... Lonesome George, the tortoise, is also named after Gobel.