| Lieutenant Colonel, Commander |
| 3rd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment |
| Vietnam 1968-1969 |
The following biographical information about Colonel George V. Ellis (Retired) was published in the newsletter for the Hill 4-11 Association for May 6, 1986 and is used as a biographical source for Colonel Ellis on this website.
Colonel George V. Ellis (Retired) was a Lieutenant Colonel and Commanding Officer of the 3rd Battalion, 1st Infantry, 11th Light Infantry Brigade, Americal Division when Fire Support Base 4-11 was established on July 8, 1969 by elements of Alpha Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Infantry and the 4th ARVN Regt.
Colonel Ellis is a 30 year Army veteran. He began his military career in November 1944 as an enlisted man. He was discharged from the Army in 1947 as a Staff Sergeant (E-6) to begin his college education at LSU. Later that year he transferred to Holmes Jr. College in Mississippi to play football for his former high school football coach. It was there that he joined the Mississippi National Guard and was appointed First Sergeant and in that capacity helped organize an infantry rifle company in Goodman, Mississippi.
In 1949, Colonel Ellis transferred to Kent State University, Kent, Ohio and joined the Army ROTC. He graduated in 1951 as a Distinguished Military Graduate and accepted a Regular Army commission as a 2nd Lieutenant.
During his military career, Colonel Ellis served in numerous command and staff assignments in the U.S., Korea, Germany, and Vietnam. Colonel Ellis was a Platoon Leader and Company Commander in combat with the 45th Inf. Div. (the Div. Colonel Treadwell won the Medal of Honor during WW II) and Advisor to the 9th. ROK Div. in Vietnam before becoming the commanding officer of the 3rd Battalion, 1st Infantry in April of 1969. Colonel Ellis also served as Commanding Officer of the 11th Inf. Bde. in July 1969 during the absence of Colonel Jack T. Treadwell.
Colonel Ellis retired from active military service in 1976, at which time he and his family moved to El Paso, Texas. From 1976 through 1984 he taught mathematics in El Paso. In 1985 he accepted a position as a high school counselor.
Among Colonel Ellis' decorations and awards are: the Combat Infantryman's Badge (2nd Award), Silver Star with one Oak Leaf Cluster, Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster, Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster, Soldiers' Medal, Bronze Star Medal with "V" device, Air Medal with 12 Oak Leaf Clusters and 2 "V" devices, Army Commendation Medal, Valorous Unit Award (while serving with the 3rd Battalion, 1st Infantry), ROK Presidential Unit Citation, RVN Gallantry Cross with Palm, and the RVN Gallantry Cross with Gold Star.
