George F. McNicol

George F. McNicol was born in March 1918 in Irvington, New Jersey. At the outset of World War II, he was a window dressing designer for Hoffman Beverage in Newark, New Jersey. In September 1942, McNicol went to New York, enlisted in the Navy, and was sent to Great Lakes Naval Station in Illinois for basic training.

On completion of basic training, McNicol was sent to New York City, where, at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, he was assigned to the Fletcher Class destroyer USS Clarence K. Bronson, which was launched in April 1943 at the Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company of Kearny, New Jersey. The Bronson was sent to San Diego and then to Pearl Harbor. McNicol was in the “fire room” on daily duty, but during general quarters orders he was assigned to a repair party.

The Bronson escorted a carrier and battleship to Saipan, then was assigned to search for Japanese aircraft carriers and to engage in screening carriers and raiding various islands. While on those missions, the ship was caught in a typhoon that was so rough, McNicol could only see the radar on top of the mast. The Bronson was also assigned to escort carriers launching planes in the Battle of the Philippine Sea, the largest sea battle of the war, on June 19 and 20, 1944. At the close of that crucial battle, a victory which assured American dominance in the Pacific, the Bronson and other ships aimed their searchlights aloft as a homing beacon for carrier pilots. On June 19, pilot and future American president George H. W. Bush, returning from a mission, had to make a forced landing on water, and he and his crew were rescued by the Bronson.

In early July 1944, the ship was resupplied at Eniwetok. McNicol remembered that summer as a season of “continuous action.” In September 1944, the Bronson’s fleet covered the capture of Palaus. The next month, they conducted raids against Formosan bases, the Philippines and Visayas, and engaged the enemy at Leyte Gulf. In November and December, the Bronson was engaged at landings in the Philippine landing in early 1945. At Mindoro, the Americans were subjected to Kamikaze suicide plane attacks. McNicol recalled seeing one Kamikaze rapidly dive for about fifteen seconds before it disappeared. He said that “by the time you looked at them, they were over there”. 

In 1945, raids on Japanese bases on Formosa, Luzon, and Chinese ports preceded the Lingayen assault. Similarly, strikes on Tokyo helped prepare for the assault on Iwo Jima. The crew of the Bronson fired at the beach and supported the invasion. McNicol recalled, “we were just a little part of it”.

In March 1945, the Bronson sailed back to the United States for an overhaul at Mare Island, California. Although the Bronson returned to the Pacific Ocean theater of War in July, McNicol was not aboard. He was transferred to administrative duty in the Navy’s San Francisco office, where he interviewed sailors until he was sent to New York for discharge.

After completing his service, McNicol used his GI benefits to go to school for machinist training, which he did for the rest of his working life. He attended one reunion with his shipmates. McNicol had two daughters with his wife, who was deceased at the time of his interview. George F. McNicol received the Navy Good Conduct Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal, the WWII Victory Medal, the Philippine Liberation Ribbon, a Philippine Presidential Unit Citation, and a letter from former President George H.W. Bush for his service aboard the Bronson when Bush was rescued.

George F. McNicol passed away on December 5, 2021.

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