George McElroy

Captain George Edward Henry McElroy MC & Two Bars, DFC & Bar (14 May 1893 — 31 July 1918) was a leading Irish-born fighter pilot of the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force during World War I. He was credited with 47 aerial victories.

Military career

McElroy was born at Donnybrook, County Dublin, Ireland to Samuel and Ellen McElroy. He enlisted promptly at the start of World War I in August 1914, and was shipped out to France two months later. He was serving as a corporal in the Motor Cyclist Section of the Royal Engineers when he was first commissioned as a second lieutenant on 9 May 1915. While serving in the Royal Irish Regiment he was severely affected by mustard gas and was sent home to recuperate. He was in Dublin in April 1916, during the Easter Rising, and was ordered to help quell the insurrection. McElroy refused to fire upon his fellow Irishmen, and was transferred to a southerly garrison away from home.

On 1 June 1916 McElroy relinquished his commission in the Royal Irish Regiment when awarded a cadetship at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, from which he graduated on 28 February 1917, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Royal Garrison Artillery.

George McElroy (journalist)

George Albert McElroy (born 25 May 1922, Houston, Texas, died 7 October 2006) was a prominent pioneering African-American journalist. Among many "firsts" achieved by McElroy, he became the first African American to earn a master's degree in journalism from the University of Missouri.

Early life

George McElroy was born 25 May 1922 in Houston, Texas to Hugh and Philomena McElroy. His father, Hugh George McElroy was a highly decorated war veteran who fought in the Battle of San Juan Hill against Pancho Villa and who fought alongside General John J. Pershing and President Theodore Roosevelt, and later was awarded the Croix de Guerre for his bravery in service during World War I. George McElroy was raised in the Third Ward area of Houston.

Education and fight against segregation

After he was honorably discharged from service, McElroy returned to his still-segregated home state of Texas. Due to segregation (separate, but equal) laws of the time, he was forced to attended Texas Southern University (then-called Texas State University for Negroes (TSUN)) after being denied admission to the University of Texas (UT). He had applied to the University of Texas following the landmark decision of Sweatt v. Painter. In his letter of denial from UT, he was told that UT and TSUN both offered the courses he was seeking. Being a Negro, according to segregation laws, he had to attend TSUN. He responded to the denial letter from UT stating that although the courses were offered at both universities, there was little else "equal" about the universities. McElroy sued for the right to attend UT, but ultimately earned his bachelor's degree in journalism from TSUN in 1956.