George S. Barna

George’s parents were two immigrants from Slovakia named Stephen Barna (1887-1957) and Mary Dancsyk (1888-1958). They married in 1907 and raised nine children in a Slovak neighborhood centered around their church at 28th and Snyder Avenue in Philadelphia. 

The census of 1910 showed Stephen was working at the Atlantic Oil refinery along the Schuylkill River, as most of his neighbors were, and it was the only employer he ever had. The 1930 census listed Stephen as a painter at the refinery while his three oldest sons were tinsmiths there. All five boys (Andrew, Alexander, John, George, and Nicholas) and four girls (Mary, Anna, Julia, and Helen) were in the home at the time. 

It doesn’t appear that George finished high school, and he wasn’t working in 1942 when he registered for the draft. He was fairly small in stature, at 5’ 6” tall and weighing just 126 pounds. But the Army Air Force wanted him, so he was drafted on January 28, 1943. 

He served in the 485th Bombardment Squadron, 501st Bombardment Group, 20th Air Force. The 501st trained in the last half of 1944 at Harvard Army Airfield, Nebraska on the Boeing B-29 Superfortress. While there, George had a couple of visits to a field hospital, first with colitis and later with a deviated septum. In both cases he was treated and released back to duty.

After training was completed, the 501st arrived at its combat station in Guam on April 14, 1945. The 485th had its aircraft on this airfield on the island of Saipan in the nearby Northern Mariana Islands. They flew their first mission in June but George and three others didn’t live long enough to participate.

On May 25 they were returning from the beach in Saipan on a weapons carrier. Fumes from a broken aviation gas line filled the air as they passed by. It was so thick it ignited, creating a sudden explosion and fire that killed all four men. They were classified as DNB, Died Non-Battle, which includes accidents occurring outside combat areas. Temporary burials were made on the island of Guam, but they were eventually moved to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii. This is the stone marking where George was buried.

His family included his name on his parents’ gravestone at Mount  Moriah in memory of his life. His sister’s name, Helen Barna Shubin,  is also inscribed on that stone, shown above, and there are two other graves in the plot for George’s brothers, Andrew and Nicholas. The orthodox cross, as seen on this closeup of Andrew’s stone, reflects the faith of the Barnas and many other families in their neighborhood who were and still are an active part of the Assumption of the Holy Virgin Orthodox Church at 28th and Snyder Avenue.