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After his schooling, George is a designer, he lives in Baltimore, he is single. In January 1942, he joined the Air Corps, entered air cadet school at Maxwell Field, Alabama.
He received his classification in Nashville (Tennessee) where he was selected to follow the pilot track.
He then goes through the pre-flight stage and then goes back to pilot school where he goes through basic training and Advanced Pilot Training. He obtained his pilot wings and was appointed 2nd Lieutenant in July 1942.
He joined the 352nd Fighter Squadron of the 353th Fighter Group in October. The unit was stationed on Baltimore Air Field until May 1943, during this period George trained on P-40. The first P-47 Thunderbolts are delivered in February.
George and the Squadron arrive in England in May on AAF 345 station in Goxhill (Lincolnshire). The 353rd Group is attached to the 8th US Air Force on July 6.
In early August, the Group moved to AAF station 366 in Metfield (Suffolk).
The missions begin on August 12, bomber escorts, target attacks ... he is a pioneer in dive bombing and ground attack.
On September 23, 1943, George left for his thirteenth mission which was to escort B-17 bombers going to the Nantes port area where there are Kriegsmarine ships. In one of these bombers is the famous actor Clark Gable for his last mission.
While the convoy is northwest of Nantes, it is attacked by a group of FW-190s. The P-47s break away from the convoy and then a battle ensues; during this fight George's plane was shot down, it crashed at a place called "Couëtu" in the town of Carentoir (Morbihan). George was ejected on impact and killed instantly.
From the report of the Group's mission that day, two extracts:
Major Glenn Duncan, commanding officer of the 353rd Fighter Group testifies:
“I led the 353rd group with 1st Lt. Gordon Burlingame as wingman and 1st Lt William Streit as element leader of which Dietz was No. 4. In the Nantes region, I saw 4 enemy planes positioned laterally to the B-17s, at the tail leu-leu to attack them. I was making a sharp left turn to find myself behind these enemy planes. At that time, I saw three of my men behind me in good position, in line. The 7th rushed on the first 2 Fw 190 signaling to a formation to take care of the last 2. I was then about 900 m from the Fw which I was attacking. I looked behind and saw the Fw from behind, in turn, to come on me and my wingman. I saw my n ° 2 turn towards this Fw covered by Lt. Dietz in position n ° 4. It was my last eye contact with my # 4. When I finished attacking my Fw 190, I could only make out 2 P-47s behind me. A Fw 190 returned in front and positioned itself behind the P-47 on my left. I ordered a "break" (punt) at the same time on the 190. He must have seen me because he immediately turned around and went down to the ground. At that time I no longer saw any enemy around and ordered the rally by radio but there were only 2 of my teammates left ».
1st Lt. William Streit states:
“Lt. Dietz was flying in position No. 4 behind me which was No. 3. We escorted the bombers at length and Lt. Dietz maintained his position well. I spotted a pair of 109 arriving from my left; one rolled over and went down, the other came before us. I fired a salvo at him and touched him once. Lt. Dietz was still with me when we came back up because of a Fw 190 which was on the tail of Lt. Burlingame, the n ° 2 of our formation. I shot him down (Fw 190) and then followed Major Ducan and Lt. Burlingame. I noticed that Lt. Dietz was still with me; I saw him for the last time. The next thing I saw was an Fw 190 hitting me. I managed to get rid of it (to lose it) and resumed training for my "flight" (flight). The victory over Lt. Dietz's P-47 was claimed by the German fighter pilot Fw. Ernst Henning from 1. / JG 2 at 09.38 am between La Gacilly and Ploërmel. "
The 353rd Fighter Group will carry out a total of 447 missions including 330 victories and will destroy 414 planes for losses of 137 aircraft.
He was decorated with the Distinguished Unit Citation for his support for Operation Market Garden in September 1944.
He will be among its ranks at the end of the conflict 14 aces.
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