GEORGE RAY TWEED (July 2, 1902 - January 16, 1989) was a decorated radioman in the U.S. Navy who served during World War II. He famously evaded Japanese capture for two years and seven months after...view moreGEORGE RAY TWEED (July 2, 1902 - January 16, 1989) was a decorated radioman in the U.S. Navy who served during World War II. He famously evaded Japanese capture for two years and seven months after the surrender of the U.S. garrison on Guam in 1941. Tweed enlisted in 1922 and attended basic training at Naval Station Great Lakes. He also attended the Radioman School and served in the various Navy radio units until 1940, when he was transferred to the Naval Base Guam. At the time a 16-year Navy veteran with the rank of Radioman First Class, he was serving in the Navy Communication Office when the Japanese invaded the island on December 8, 1941, in the First Battle of Guam. He and five other men—Tyson, Yablonsky, Jones, Krump and Johnston of the USS Penguin—slipped into the Guam jungle rather than become prisoners of war. The Japanese eventually captured and executed all except Tweed, who managed to hide until just before the start of the Second Battle of Guam in 1944. He was rescued by a whaleboat from the USS McCall, and, having conveyed information about Japanese defenses gathered from his vantage point overlooking the west coast of the island, was awarded the Legion of Merit with “V” Device and promoted to Chief Petty Officer for his heroism. He retired as a lieutenant in 1948 and was later also decorated with a Silver Star. Tweed died in a car accident in 1989, aged of 86.view less