Ships
- USS Astoria (CL-90) Captain from 17 May 1944 · Relieved on 9 June 1945
George Carroll Dyer commissioned Astoria (CL-90) on 17 May 1944 and had her through the ship's war cruises, until 9 June 1945. NavSource's final rank for him is vice admiral. He retired in that rank in 1955.
The Universal Ship Cancellation Society's sketch says he was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on 17 April 1898. uboat.net prints 27 April 1898 and gives no place. The day is not settled here, and the birth date is left empty. The same USCS page says he died on 25 June 1989 and was buried in the cemetery at the Naval Academy. uboat.net and the displayed Hall of Valor entry give no death date. Hall of Valor lists a home of record at LaPorte, Indiana. USCS says that in 1921 he married Mary Adaline Dyer (1895–1991). It gives her no other name.
USCS says he graduated from the Naval Academy in 1918, in the accelerated class of 1919. Hall of Valor says class of 1919. From 1919 to 1924 he commanded the submarines D-9, L-10, and S-15. He also served in Arizona (BB-39) and as executive officer of Indianapolis (CA-35) under Captain Thomas Kinkaid. In 1931 he graduated from the Naval War College and took Widgeon (ASR-1, ex-AM-22), which he had through 1934. He commanded Gamble (DD-123) in 1936 and 1937, served on the staff of Commander, Destroyers, Scouting Force, and commanded Submarine Division 8 from 1938 to 1939. uboat.net dates him a commander from 13 February 1939 and a temporary captain from 17 June 1942.
Before and during the war he served on the staffs of Admirals James O. Richardson, Ernest J. King, and Richard L. Conolly. USCS says he was promoted to captain in 1942. In 1943 he was chief of staff to the commander of amphibious bases in Northwest Africa. Later that year, on board Biscayne (AGC-18), he was seriously wounded by German airplane gunfire at Salerno. Hall of Valor's Legion of Merit, from the Bureau of Naval Personnel Information Bulletin of February 1944, is for July 1943, as chief of staff to the commander of an amphibious task force before the invasion of Sicily, organizing a force of 250 ships and 20,000 officers and men. A gold star in lieu of a second Legion of Merit, from the bulletin of June 1944, is for September 1943 as chief of staff to Commander Landing Craft and Bases, Northwest African Waters, during the assault on Italy. USCS says he had to turn down Augusta (CA-31) and Pasadena (CL-65) before he could go back to sea.
His next command was Astoria (CL-90). NavSource dates it from 17 May 1944 to 9 June 1945, and the ship's DANFS entry names Capt. George C. Dyer at the commissioning on the first of those days. uboat.net uses the same two dates and styles him a temporary rear admiral from 25 September 1943, before the cruise. The command line keeps NavSource's rank of captain. USCS says the ship took part in the Philippine, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa campaigns and that he received the Legion of Merit with three gold stars and the Bronze Star with Combat V. The two Legion of Merit citations saved from Hall of Valor are the Sicily and Salerno awards above. They are not the cruiser cruise. No citation for a Bronze Star, or for further gold stars, was on the fetched valor page.
USCS says that in 1945 and 1946 he was chief of logistic plans and chief of general plans, and that he also had a tour in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. As a flag officer the same page gives him Cruiser Division 10 "in 1951–52," then the United Nations Blockade and Escort Force, Task Force 95, during the Korean War, Training Command, Pacific Fleet, and the Eleventh Naval District from 1953 to 1955. Hall of Valor's Navy Distinguished Service Medal, citing All Hands of October 1955, is for command of the United Nations Blockading and Escort Force in Korea from 20 June 1951 to 30 May 1952. Those dates sit on top of the USCS phrase for Cruiser Division 10. Both are left as the pages print them. USCS says he was promoted to vice admiral and retired in 1955. After retirement the page says he wrote several books, including On the Treadmill to Pearl Harbor, the memoirs of Admiral James O. Richardson, and that between 1969 and 1971 he gave 15 interviews whose 547-page transcript is at the U.S. Naval Institute.