The family and friends of Capt Georgia Mae McKearly, have invited the Patriot Guard Riders to be present to honor her for her service to our country. It is our privilege to do so.
Capt McKearly was boron on 24 August 1919 and passed away on 17 July 2021, just five weeks shy of her 102nd birthday.
In August, 1944, she volunteered for the Navy Nurse Corps Reserves and was assigned to Great Lakes Naval Hospital. In those days, between shifts, the nurses would go onto the lawn behind the nurses’ quarters for military training. There, a Marine taught them to march and salute. Georgia worked in the diet kitchen with five other nurses, catering to the needs of Sailors and Marines whose jaws had been disfigured. She soon became a supervisor.
She received orders, with 45 other nurses, to the Naval Hospital in San Diego, moving into nurses’ quarters in Balboa Park. Georgia loved to connect with her patients, and the patients often livened her shifts with friendly pranks. Once, her patients smuggled in a small white rabbit and “just laughed like it was the funniest thing they ever saw” as it jumped all over the nurses’ station. As the war ended, as a reservist she knew she was would be “ushered out” of the Navy. But, the Navy chose her to participate in the physical therapy training program at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond. She would no longer be a reservist, and she would be expected to remain in the service for at least the next three years.
After completing her training, over the next ten years, she served at Bethesda, Great Lakes, Camp Pendleton, and St. Albans - NY, before returning to Balboa Naval Hospital in San Diego. At Balboa, she was in charge of the physical therapy department, and worked in the Navy's first purpose-built therapeutic rehabilitation pool.
Given service in both the Nurse Corps and the Medical Service Corps, "Capt McKearly chartered a very unique Navy career," writes Andre Sobocinski, a historian at the U.S. Navy's Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. By the time she retired from the Navy in 1975, Georgia had attained the rank of Captain. Her awards include the National Defense Service Medal, WW II Victory Medal, and American Campaign
Medal.
Georgia never married, but the service will be attended by 3 of her third cousins.
NOTE: This mission posting is to facilitate your voluntary participation in honoring this Military Veteran. For those interested, and all PGR members are welcome, we will be accompanying the hero and her family from the church to Miramar National Cemetery. Please see the time table if you would like to participate. For those who would rather go directly to the cemetery, we will meet you there.
NOTE: CURRENT COVID RESTRICTIONS AT MIRAMAR REQUIRE MASKS/FACE COVERINGS, PLEASE BRING YOURS AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR UNDERSTANDING.
Time Table for Wednesday, 18 August 20211300 – Stage at Our Mother of Confidence, 3131 Governor Dr, San Diego, CA 92122, [make entry from
2nd driveway on Governor]
https://goo.gl/maps/vhjcJsYUf54r8yeu91315 – Mission briefing
1340 – KSU to Miramar National Cemetery, 5795 Nobel Dr., San Diego, CA 92122
http://goo.gl/maps/rAfUs1400 – Approximate arrival at Miramar National Cemetery
1430 – Flag Line, Funeral Service with Full Military Honors
R/C Cal Braley
So Cal PGR - Ride Captainbraley56@gmail.com
619-805-6541
You do not have to be a Veteran or a motorcycle rider to attend this mission. All PGR members are welcome. We encourage those who do not ride to attend in your car. If this will be your first mission go to the initial staging area and you will be briefed there by the R/C (Ride Captain). Dress for motorcycle riding or dress casually if you are driving a cage (car). Please feel free to attend any portion of this mission you can. Please ride/drive safely.
Please remember that our mission is to stand tall and silent, and with honor and respect for our Heroes. No talking, smoking, or cell phone use during the flag line or service. Please keep radios off and engine noise to a minimum. Observe the 15 MPH speed limit. Remember, cemeteries are hallowed ground. Show respect to all who are there, not just the ones we are honoring.
