06/18/2026
George Neu
United States Army
Specialist 4 (SP4)
Peace Time Service
George was born on May 20, 1933. He was living in Buffalo, New York, and working for IBM before he was drafted. It was the post-Korean War peacetime, but the draft was still in effect.
George was drafted into the service because IBM did not grant deferrals to its employees. He completed boot camp before being assigned to a unit that could make use of his background in the computer industry.
George was assigned to the Army Corps of Engineers at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. He worked in the Engineering Research and Development labs, providing computer support. His unit was unusual because nearly every enlisted man in the company held advanced degrees. His primary responsibility was operating and supporting an IBM 650, a "medium-sized" computer of the era, consisting of two large, 8-foot-long, 8-foot-high cabinets.
He worked with programmers and wrote programs himself to debug and adapt to the machine's idiosyncrasies. This helped speed up engineering math that had previously been done by hand.
While primarily working at Fort Belvoir, George was temporarily stationed in Maryland, where he met his wife. He spent the duration of his two years in the D.C. area, allowing him to witness historic events such as President Eisenhower’s second inaugural parade and the funeral of the Korean War Unknown Soldier.
George concluded his service with an honorable discharge on June 5, 1958. He had worked for IBM before being drafted and returned to IBM immediately after his discharge. He transferred to IBM's Washington office and remained in the area until 1963. George and Mary were married after he left the service.
