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Contact Info
Home Town Fitchburg, Massachusetts
Last Address Centreville, Virginia
Date of Passing Jul 04, 2010
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
Col. George Juskalian was born in Fitchburg, Mass. on June 7, 1914 and was the youngest son of Kevork Juskalian of Kharpert and Maritza Ferrahian of Arapkir. He was raised in Fitchburg, attended the local High School and graduated from Boston University in 1936 with a Bachelor of Science degree in journalism while concurrently earning a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the US Army Reserve via ROTC.
Lieutenant George Juskalian was called to active duty in November of 1940. During WWII he saw combat duties in North Africa where he was a prisoner of war for more than 27 months ; he was a battalion commander in Korea in 1952-1953; he was military advisor to the Vietnamese Army under combat conditions in 1963-1964 and advisor to the Imperial Iranian Army in Teheran, 1957-1958. Other key assignments included service in General Dwight Eisenhower's secretariat in the Pentagon, 1945-1948 and subsequent postings at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas and Fort Benning, Georgia. He retired from the United States Army with the rank of Colonel in 1967.
In the course of a distinguished military career, Col. Juskalian was awarded a whole slew of medals recognizing him for courage and gallantry, including, among others, two silver medals, four bronze stars, the Legion of Merit and Army Commendation Medal. The Silver Star is the third-highest military decoration that can be awarded to a member of any branch of the United Sates armed forces for extraordinary heroism and valor in the face of enemy. On more than one occasion Col. Juskalian risked his life to save the lives of his comrades in arm and to lead them to safety in dangerous combat situations.
He lived in Centreville, Virginia with his family for over 25 years and he was an active and respected member of St. Mary's Armenian Apostolic Church in Washington D.C.
Col. George Juskalian devoted as much energy and time to Armenian community affairs as he could. He is a former member of the Armenian General Benevolent Union's (AGBU) Central Committee of America and the Armenian Assembly of America; he has served on the Diocesan Council of the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America. In recognition of these services to Church and nation, His Holiness Vazken I, Catholicos of All Armenians, awarded Col. Juskalian in 1988 the medal of St. Nerses Shnorhali. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors recognized Col. George Juskalian for his heroism and honorable service to the United States during a formal session on April 23, 2007.
Description The European-Mediterranean-Middle East Theater was a major theater of operations during the Second World War (between December 7, 1941, and March 2, 1946). The vast size of Europe, Mediterranean and Middle East theatre saw interconnected naval, land, and air campaigns fought for control of the Mediterranean, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. The fighting in this theatre lasted from 10 June 1940, when Italy entered the war on the side of Germany, until 2 May 1945 when all Axis forces in Italy surrendered. However, fighting would continue in Greece – where British troops had been dispatched to aid the Greek government – during the early stages of the Greek Civil War.
The British referred to this theatre as the Mediterranean and Middle East Theatre (so called due to the location of the fighting and the name of the headquarters that controlled the initial fighting: Middle East Command) while the Americans called the theatre of operations the Mediterranean Theatre of War. The German official history of the fighting is dubbed 'The Mediterranean, South-East Europe, and North Africa 1939–1942'. Regardless of the size of the theatre, the various campaigns were not seen as neatly separated areas of operations but part of one vast theatre of war.
Fascist Italy aimed to carve out a new Roman Empire, while British forces aimed initially to retain the status quo. Italy launched various attacks around the Mediterranean, which were largely unsuccessful. With the introduction of German forces, Yugoslavia and Greece were overrun. Allied and Axis forces engaged in back and forth fighting across North Africa, with Axis interference in the Middle East causing fighting to spread there. With confidence high from early gains, German forces planned elaborate attacks to be launched to capture the Middle East and then to possibly attack the southern border of the Soviet Union. However, following three years of fighting, Axis forces were defeated in North Africa and their interference in the Middle East was halted. Allied forces then commenced an invasion of Southern Europe, resulting in the Italians switching sides and deposing Mussolini. A prolonged battle for Italy took place, and as the strategic situation changed in southeast Europe, British troops returned to Greece.
The theatre of war, the longest during the Second World War, resulted in the destruction of the Italian Empire and altered the strategic position of Germany resulting in numerous German divisions being deployed to Africa and Italy and total losses (including those captured upon final surrender) being over half a million. Italian losses, in the theatre, amount to around to 177,000 men with a further several hundred thousand captured during the process of the various campaigns. British losses amount to over 300,000 men killed, wounded, or captured, and total American losses in the region amounted to 130,000.
