George E. Silvas, age 97 joined his beloved Kathleen on November 17, 2020. He was at home, surrounded by his loving family. George was born in Houston, Texas on February 22, 1923 to Demetrio Silva and Maria Rafaela Enriquez.

As a youth in Corpus Christi he was a young boxer known as the Leopard Street Larrupper. He was a talented amateur winning 25 of his 31 fights by KO or TKO. In the Army he became a coach, training several 82nd Airborne, All Army, Inter-Service and pre-Olympic boxing teams.

George met and married Kathleen Barrera, the love of his life, on November 9, 1942 in Corpus Christi, Texas. In 1943 at the age of 20, he joined the Army. During WWll, he was deployed to Palermo Sicily where, as part of the 563rd Parachute Field Artillery he took part in the Occupation of Rome. During the remainder of the war he was a paratrooper with the 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions taking part in the major campaigns of Operation Dragoon, and Battle of the Bulge. He was wounded on September 20th, 1944 while in France and received the Purple Heart.

During his 27 years in the Army, George was deployed to the Dominican Republic in 1965 and served two tours in Vietnam. From 1966-1967 he was with the 1st Airborne, 8th Cavalry Division and in 1968-1969 he was with the 173rd Airborne Brigade. He retired from the Army in 1969 as a Sergeant First Class. After retirement, he worked for the Corpus Christi Army Depot.

During his military career, George was awarded the Purple Heart, Bronze Star and Presidential Unit Citation Medal. After his retirement and through the efforts of his wife Kathleen he was awarded his proudest achievement, the French Legion of Honor by the French Government given to soldiers wounded during WWII.

After retiring from CCAD, he and Kathleen spent many years enjoying trips to the various casinos, participating in several social clubs and enjoyed being part of the 82nd Airborne Division Association, South Texas All Airborne Chapter and Post 2397 of the VFW.

George is survived by his son, George Silvas Jr, (Linda), his daughters Carol Martinez (Ricardo) and Barbara Barrera. He also enjoyed spending time with his 4 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren. He is also survived by his sisters Alice Wood (Chuck Wood) from Michigan, Maria (Jesse) Arizpe of Houston, and brother Gilbert Castillo of Michigan.

George lived his life with honor and will be deeply missed by his family and many friends.

Visitation will be at Guardian Funeral Home on Monday, November 23, 2020 from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM. Burial will be at 2:00 PM at the Coastal Bend Veteran's Cemetery

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to VFW Post 2397 at 4441 Ayers St. Corpus Christi, Texas, 78415