George Charles Szego

George Charles Szego
Personal details
Born	1919 Budapest, Hungary
Died	23 April 2008 Dover, Delaware
Nativity	Hungary
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army
ASN	37357304
Rank	Sergeant
Rank at Ritchie	Private
Camp Ritchie	Class 14 (2 December 1943 – 31 January 1944)
Section	5D
Enlisted	Ft Francis E Warren Cheyenne, Wyoming
Team	MII 457-G

Teammates

Team — MII 457-G

These are other soldiers listed on the same team roster. People moved between teams; overlapping service dates are not always documented.

Research notes on this page are compiled from the source file and later edits. They may be unverified, incomplete, or incorrect, and should not be treated as established fact. Please correct the article or add sources on the talk page. For class-roster terms, see About the data.

Sources & confidence: Treat Research notes as leads, not settled fact. Prefer NARA, the class roster, newspapers, Find a Grave, or published histories for contested claims. Mark unsourced claims with {{Needs source}}, or explain disagreements on talk. Baseline import notes: About the data.

George Charles Szego (1919 – 23 April 2008) was a Budapest-born Ritchie Boy (Class 14) who landed in Normandy, interrogated high-value prisoners, and later founded a solar company that put collectors on the White House roof.

Biography

George Charles Szego was born in Budapest in 1919 and was two when his political-émigré parents brought him to the United States. After Brooklyn Technical High School he entered City College of New York, ran out of money after two years, and took a metals-recovery plant job in Sheridan, Wyoming.

Enlisting after Pearl Harbor, he first went to Camp Sibert, Alabama, for chemical-warfare training, then—because he spoke Hungarian and German—to Camp Ritchie (Class 14). As a sergeant he landed at Omaha Beach in June 1944 a few weeks after D-Day, fought in the Battle of the Bulge, and led an intelligence detachment that captured German teams impersonating GIs. Before Nuremberg he interrogated prisoners at Oberursel, including Hermann Göring.

He earned degrees from the University of Denver (1947) and the University of Washington (M.S. 1950, Ph.D. 1956), worked for GE, TRW, and the Institute for Defense Analyses, and in 1970 founded InterTechnology/Solar Corp. in Warrenton, Virginia. In 1979 his firm installed solar collectors on the White House West Wing. He died on 23 April 2008 in Dover, Delaware.

Technical record

Field	Imported value
Approx Age at Death	89
Nara ASN	37357304
Nara Name	SZEGO GEORGE C
Nara State	79
Nara County	33
Nara POE	7931
Nara DOE	160743
Nara Grade Alpha	PVT
Nara Grade Code	8
Nara Branch Alpha	NO
Nara Branch Code	2
Branch	No branch assignment
Nara Term or Enlistment	5
Term of enlistment	Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law
Defer. Date	0
Nara Source	0
Nara Nativity	N3
Nara Year of Birth	19
Nara Race	1
Nara Race Description	White citizen
Nara Education	8
Nara Civilian Occupation	101
Nara Marital Status	2
Nara Height (inches)	10
Nara Weight (lbs)	0
Class_ASN	37357304
Class_Name	SZEGO, George C.
match_method	asn_exact_name_exact
row_source	both

Timeline

• 1919 — Born in Budapest; to the United States at age two.
• Brooklyn Tech; CCNY (two years); metals plant, Sheridan, Wyoming.
• After Pearl Harbor — Enlisted; Camp Sibert chemical warfare; Camp Ritchie Class 14.
• June 1944 — Omaha Beach (sergeant); Battle of the Bulge; captured German impersonator teams.
• Pre-Nuremberg — Interrogations at Oberursel, including Hermann Göring.
• 1947 — B.S., University of Denver; 1950 / 1956 — M.S. and Ph.D., University of Washington.
• 1970 — Founded InterTechnology/Solar Corp., Warrenton, Virginia.
• 20 June 1979 — White House West Wing solar collectors inaugurated.
• 23 April 2008 — Died in Dover, Delaware.

Sources

• Washington Post, 14 May 2008 — Joe Holley, “George C. Szego, 88; Solar Energy Leader, ‘Mr. Space Power’” (RB Archive ProQuest PDF; private copy, not uploaded)
• Camp Ritchie Museum, Inc. (The Ritchie History Museum), Classes 1–31 roster data
• Dan Gross research spreadsheets, including original Excel timeline/roster work, combined with other research and records
• NARA World War II Army enlistment records (where a NARA ASN is present)
• 1940 U.S. Census (where a census match is present)
• Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page, post dated 2022-11-23 (1 post)