eorge Marquardt was born on July 14, 1919, in Princeton, Ky., but grew up in the small Ohio River town of Golconda, Ill. He enlisted in the Army Air Forces in March of 1941 where he received his wings at Kelly Field in Texas. In 1943, he was assigned to the 393rd Bombardment Squadron, which became part of the 509th Composite Group at Wendover Field in Utah. Fifteen crews were being trained there to drop a large, unnamed bomb for the top-secret mission that they knew only would "shorten the war." He actually followed the "Enola Gay" when it dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima on Aug 6, 1945. Marquardt died in August of 2003.