Standing tall....George Cates

Noreen Hyslop photo A bomber pilot in World War II, George Cates settled in rural Dudley in 1951 and remains, at age 89, living near the fruit orchards that served as his livlihood for over 30 years. At center in the photo insert is Cates in 1944, serving as a bomber pilot on a 12-man flight crew during World War II.

At 6 feet, two inches, George Cates casts an impressive shadow across his rural Dudley fields The gentle giant is much more comfortable talking about this year's pumpkin and apple crop than he is discussing his role as a bomber pilot in World War II.

Cates, now retired from the orchard business that bears his name, was three months shy of being the legal age of 21 when he enlisted in the U.S. Navy.

"Back then," the now 89-year-old recalls, "you had to be 21 to join or else have a parent sign for you. Mom didn't want to sign for me, but she knew I'd get in one way or another, so she finally gave in."

It was January 1941. George Cates couldn't have imagined at the time that in a few years he'd be piloting a bomber plane, providing cover for the occupation forces as American ships made their way into Japan.

Beginning with boot camp in San Diego, Cates covered a lot of "bases" on his military journey. He spent time in California, Texas, Florida, Kansas and Oklahoma before being assigned to the naval base in Pensacola, Fla.

In November 1943, while stationed at Hollywood Beach, Fla., Cates married his Texas sweetheart, Helen Benes. He recalls those days near the ocean as some of the best in his life.

"We'd have breakfast, and I'd go to the base; and she'd head for the ocean," he laughs. "Helen loved the ocean."

His beloved Helen remained his wife for the next 63 years until cancer claimed her life in 2006.

The U.S. Navy provided extensive training for Cates in his five years of active duty. Not only was he schooled as a pilot, but also as an aviation machinist and navigator. He spent a full year stateside teaching navigation skills to young recruits.

It was February 1944 and following the American seizure of bases in the Marshall Islands; both Army and Navy reinforcements were sent to Iwo Jima. Among them was George Cates and his 12 man crew.

"Our plane was a four engine patrol bomber," recalls the Dudley veteran, "similar to a B24."

There were about 18 squadrons on the island, including Cates' group.

"We flew cover for the occupation groups going into Japan," Cates explains. "If anybody got into trouble, it was our job to report it and to do what we could to help."

Cates, reflecting on those missions of more than 60 years ago, still has a vivid picture in his mind of the destruction he witnessed from his vantage point in the skies after the phosphorous bombs were dropped.

"It was just pure devastation, and I couldn't help but wonder how many innocent victims were down there. It was very difficult to see beyond the foam of the typhoon at sea. It seemed like all we could see was foam for a time. I remember thinking how sick those boys must have been on those ships. They were being tossed all over the seas."

Cates recalls the words of an old friend, Darrell Holden, who served on one of the ships that was protected by Cates' cover.

"He told me later, 'I didn't think anybody but the good Lord was out there looking after us,' but I told him we were up there looking after him too."

Cates tells the story of how one of the bombers had its controls shot off and the pilot, named Bob Barnes, put the plane on auto pilot and somehow managed to bring it out of a dive, saving himself and his 12 crew members.

"I've never known of another pilot being able to pull that off, but he did."

Another pilot was not so fortunate, Cates recalls. "One of the planes dropped its bomb on target but then too lost its controls after receiving enemy fire and crashed.

"The whole crew was gone," he remembers with a shake of his head.

"We might have been shot at," he says, "but we were never hit. None of us were ever injured at all. We were lucky."

Cates' military career was hardly at an end when he returned to the states following the war. He spent 21 years following his active duty as a member of the Naval Reserves. With the exception of one time during his career in the Reserves, he never flew again.

In 1951, he and Helen made their home in rural Dudley on what he likes to refer to as the "Dudley ridge." There, the family, completed with the addition of a son and three daughters, operated Cates Orchard until the couple's retirement in 1982. Peaches, apples, pumpkins, pears and more are still abundant at the orchard, but the senior Cates now witnesses the harvests from inside the home he and his wife shared for nearly six decades.

"We turned the operation of the orchard over to the kids (daughter Janet and husband, Kevin Johns) and they've taken good care of it," he says.

George and Helen Cates were able to enjoy several years of retirement before her death three years ago. Some of George's fondest memories are of a trip to Arizona where they witnessed the Arizona poppy fields in full bloom.

"It was a thing of beauty," he says, recalling some of the best times of his "fruitful" life.

Cates' crew all returned safely to the states after the war and for many years they reunited to share their stories and to watch their families grow. Over the years, the group would gather every few years and hear of each other's successes, family additions, the arrival of grandchildren and even great-grandchildren, and sadly the loss of loved ones.

"Our last reunion was in 2006," Cates says. "There are only four of us left, and we're pretty spread out. It's just hard to get together anymore."

George Cates says he's no hero. He's quick to say, "It's not the pilot, it's the crew behind him, that gets things done."

But George Cates got a lot done, indeed, in 89 years. A proud and thankful nation honors his efforts, his heroism, and his heart on this Veterans Day.