George Thaddeus “Ted” Breitling was born on June 10, 1916, in Temple, Bell County, Texas. He was the son of Joseph Cushman Breitling and Leone Abernethy Breitling. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Class of 1939. He served in the 43rd Infantry Regiment, Philippine Scouts, as a Captain during World War II.

Captured after the Japanese invasion of the Philippines, he was held as a prisoner of war at PW Camp #1 in Cabanatuan until December 1944, when he was placed aboard the Oryoku Maru for transport to Japan. He survived the ship’s bombing, was transferred to the Brazil Maru, and died of untreated wounds on January 20, 1945, reportedly buried at sea. His name is memorialized in the Tablets of the Missing in the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, Manila, Capital District, National Capital Region, Philippines. He also has a memorial in the United States Military Academy Post Cemetery, West Point, Orange County, New York, USA.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, weremember.abmc.gov, dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil