George Edward Wahlen

George E. Wahlen (August 8, 1924 – June 5, 2009) was a United States Army major who served with the United States Navy as a hospital corpsman attached to a Marine Corps rifle company in World War II and was awarded the U.S. military's highest decoration for valor, the Medal of Honor, for heroism above and beyond the call of duty during the Battle of Iwo Jima. He was an Army officer in the Korean War and was wounded in the Vietnam War.

Biography Wahlen receiving the Medal of Honor from President Harry S. Truman Whalen was born in Ogden, Utah, on August 8, 1924.

Wahlen, at age 17 in 1943, trained as an aircraft mechanic and served at Hill Field in Utah, leading five other mechanics as crew chief for the United States Army Air Corps. He volunteered for the military draft, hoping to work on aircraft.

He enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve (U.S. Navy Reserve) in Salt Lake City, on June 11, 1943, as a seaman apprentice. One week later, he went on active duty and completed recruit training at the Naval Training Station in San Diego, California. On July 20, he was advanced to seaman apprentice second class and attended the Naval Hospital Corpsman School in San Diego. After graduating, he was transferred to the Naval Hospital there and advanced to seaman apprentice first class on November 1, 1943. On December 1, he was advanced to pharmacist mate third class and assigned that month to the Field Medical Service School at Camp Elliot, California, for fielding training.