Ladd, George Alden

Was awarded the Légion d'Honneur (Chevalier degree) posthumously on November 11, 2011.

GEORGE A. LADD on July 2nd, while proceeding with members of his unit to a port of embarkation for the United States, suffered a heart attack and died instantly. George went overseas with the first AFS Unit destined for the Indian Command and served in that theatre until the termination of his enlistment. Few men were more universally liked, and he did much to keep morale high among the men because of his keen sense of humor. His conscientious devotion to the AFS will long be remembered.

__ AFS Letters No. 28

GHQ had moved to Calcutta by the time the enlistment period of Unit IB-1 came to an end and a large number of its members were brought in for repatriation. One of them, George Alden Ladd, died in the Calcutta railroad station on 2 July 1944. The first group of repatriates had gone to the station late on the evening of the 1st. They waited for hours for their train to come in, Ladd brightening the wait with many jokes and stories. When the train finally came into the station, at about 2:30 in the morning, the weary men picked up their baggage and started for their allotted compartments. P. H. Sheridan, who saw Ladd fall, bathed his face and wrists in water for a while, then C. H. Horton and I. F. Forman gave artificial respiration during the hour or so it took to find a doctor. The train was delayed until an MO arrived and told Major Ives that Ladd had died immediately of heart failure. "Wish it could have been anyone else," one of his many friends wrote. "I have never respected a guy more."

__ George Rock. Chapter 16. " India-Burma 2. Return to Burma: To Tiddim and Kalemyo (April to November 1944)" History of the American Field Service, 1920-1955. New York 1956.