Our History

History of George Beach Post No. 4

By: Larry Scott, Service Officer

Post #4 was chartered in November 1920 with 15 members listed on the charter roll.

The Ladies Auxiliary was chartered in 1926 and the Sons of the Legion (S.A.L.) was chartered in 1972.

Our post is named in honor of George A. Beach who was born in this city in 1893.  He attended elementary school here and graduated from high school where he was valedictorian.  He chose as his college the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he was trained as an engineer.  He then took a position with an engineering company where he was sent to South America.

When America entered the war in 1917 he volunteered and was trained as an aviator.  He was in the first graduating class sent overseas and was eventually sent to Italy to take further training on the Caproni Heavy Bombers.  It was there he died in a mid-air collision with another Caproni. The accident took place in a heavy fog.  He had volunteered to make a test flight.  He was initially buried in Italy near where he fell on January 20th, 1918. He was subsequently reinterred to Grandview Cemetery Fort Collins on July 7, 1921 by his father.

Learn more about George A. Beach and other early aviators: