By Stu Morris
We all come to this place we call work, McCarran International Airport (LAS). Most of us come in, day in and day out, punching our time clocks and serving the traveling public, to earn our paychecks. But have you ever taken a minute to stop and ask who else reports to LAS for work each day? Who else serves others, maybe not in the capacity that you do, but in other, different ways? Who else owns a beautiful smile, hidden behind a mask of the pandemic era of 2020, waiting to set it free again?
These are a few of the questions I asked myself when I learned the details of the first-ever McCarran employee photography contest, “Hit Me With Your Best Shot.”
A perspective from the eyes of the people who work at the airport — what an opportunity to showcase all of the wonderful things to see and amazing people who make this traveling hub come alive, day after day, night after night. After all, we all know that it’s truly the frontline staff who make the magic happen for the thousands who fly in and out of fabulous Las Vegas every day.
My only decision was “who do I choose to feature in a photograph, captured at McCarran, in a split-second moment in time?” This airport has been a staple in Las Vegas since 1948. With it comes a rich history behind the pillars, walls and cement that built the structure, but more importantly, an even richer history behind the people, faces and eyes of the McCarran employees. It then dawned on me and I asked myself, who is the oldest current badged employee at McCarran?
After asking around, I got a tip about a very nice elderly man seen working in the United Service Organizations (USO) lounge, so I reached out to the director of the USO who put me in touch with Mr. George T. Price III. Mr. Price is 93 years old and a United States Navy Veteran of World War II. He is still proudly serving his country, his fellow U.S. servicemen and women, and the families of those servicemen and women, as a volunteer in the USO. I’d be hard-pressed to find anyone else working at McCarran who is older than Mr. Price, so I had my subject, who I believe to be the oldest current badged employee at McCarran International Airport.
Meeting Mr. Price in person was truly a pleasure. His soft, yet articulate voice, his clean-cut attire and his eyes filled with a lifetime of memories and history drew me in to wanting to know more about him.
George Price III was born on Aug. 6, 1927, in Pittsburgh, where he lived for 13 years. His parents later moved the family to Southern California, resulting in moves to and from five schools in five years. Price graduated from South Pasadena High School in 1945.
Price enlisted in the Navy right out of high school at 17 years old — on Memorial Day 1945 — at the rank of Seaman Second Class. He says he chose to enlist because everybody was enlisting at that time.
“The war was raging and you just waited for your time to go,” Price said.
He described the unity among those volunteering to serve after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
“Everybody joined together. The country itself was just totally unified … one purpose.”
Price was always interested in the Navy, thanks to an uncle who was a submarine commander. When Price was just 10 years old, his uncle took him and one of his cousins to San Diego for a visit and a little ride out into the Pacific Ocean onboard his submarine. He even got to experience a dive while inside the sub.
“I was just totally enwrapped,” Price said. “That made a big impression on a young kid.”
As a young sailor, Price says the thing he remembers most about his 10-week boot camp experience at the Naval Training Center at Point Loma, in San Diego, was his first night in bed, when “Taps” was played.
“It was the start of a new life, I guess, and I knew it.”
After boot camp, Price went to the Naval Air Technical Training Center in Jacksonville, Fla., for six months, where he trained to be an Aviation Electricians Mate.
After completing training in Jacksonville, Price was assigned duty in Pensacola, Fla., where he spent the rest of his Navy career. He worked on the electrical components on aircraft at that base, as well as in assembly and repair. Price was honorably discharged at the rank of Third Class Petty Officer.
After his Navy service, Price attended John Muir Junior College, where he earned an associate’s degree. He later transferred to the University of Southern California (USC), which he attended for a couple of years.
Price began working as a machinist at AO (Arnold Orville) Beckman Incorporated, which changed to Beckman Instruments, before being hired to work in the research laboratory for a company called TeleComputing.
Price kept in touch with a group of about 10 men he served with in the Navy, five of whom were named George, so they all had different nicknames. Price was known in the group as “George the Third” because he is a third-generation George Price in his family.
Price married his first wife in 1952 and the couple had three daughters. They were married 20 years.
Later, while vacationing in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Price met his current wife, Lee, in a restaurant. The future Mrs. Price worked for an airline at the time. She worked in reservations and group sales and later worked in ticketing for United Airlines for almost 37 years. She retired in 2001. The two married in 1974 and are celebrating 47 years of marriage this year. They have one son together.
In 1959, Price started GT Price Products, Inc. He founded the company that focused on military flashlights for over 30 years. He sold the company in 1990, at the age of 62.
Price did some consulting work after selling his company and later went to work for Ledtronics in Torrance, Calif, where he worked for about five years in the 1990s.
While working for Ledtronics, Price was responsible for a project installing LED lights on the 1,500-foot Vincent Thomas Bridge at the entrance of the Los Angeles Harbor. He cites the project as a major career accomplishment.
“If you go down to the (L.A.) harbor and you see lights along the (Vincent Thomas) bridge, I was involved with that.”
Price retired In 2002, at 75 years old. He and his wife had friends in Las Vegas, and visited them several times before deciding that Vegas was a great place to retire. They moved into a newly built home in the Sun City Anthem Community on Memorial Day weekend of 2003 and have lived in Henderson for the past 18 years.
Even in retirement, Price stays very busy. He applied to volunteer with the USO not long after the center at McCarran opened in 2010. He applied online and was accepted in 2011. Price says he volunteered because he had fond memories of the USO centers he visited while in the service. He has great respect for the organization and felt if they needed help, he’d like to be a part of it. He used to enjoy doing the “water runs,” collecting items from the donation bins that were located at security checkpoints around the terminals. He recalls finding “really interesting” items in the bins at times.
Another memorable experience involved talking with a military officer for over an hour while the officer visited the USO. When Price left his shift that day, he learned the officer, a major general in charge of the U.S. Army Training Corp, had left an envelope for him. Inside was a thank you letter expressing how he enjoyed the conversation with Price. He still has that letter at home today.
Price still drives himself to the airport for his volunteer shifts and plans to continue volunteering as long as he’s able. He’s continued to be a member of a support group for the maritime services called the Navy League of the United States. Price was a member for more than 12 years in Pasadena and a secretary on the board for over 18 years in Las Vegas. He’s been a member of the American Legion for over 30 years, and has been on the Board of Directors for the Veteran’s Club in Sun City Anthem for a number of years. Price recently volunteered at vaccination stations throughout Clark County, doing his part in helping the public with the COVID vaccination process.
Price enjoys playing poker and has frequented Sunset Station, Green Valley Ranch, the M Resort, the Southpoint Hotel and Treasure Island, making numerous friends along the way. He humbly admits he's just an average poker player, but he enjoys it.
Prior to the pandemic, he relished activities with his children and has lived a life possibly rivaled only by that of Howard Hughes. He is a member of the E Clampus Vitas (ECV) group, a fraternal organization dedicated to preservation of the heritage of the American West. This involved twice-yearly weekend campouts in the “boonies” with about 150 to 200 other men. He was an active part of the Southern California “Hot Rod” generation. He flew in the Goodyear Blimp and was a USC football season ticket holder for 54 years. He played golf and tennis, flew in a sail plane, and drove an Indy car six laps on the Las Vegas Raceway. Price has ballooned down the Napa Valley, gone aqualung diving, surfed, and participated in all the other things Southern California kids did in his younger years. In recent years, he enjoyed going out to dinner, shows and concerts with his wife.
When asked what the secret is to a long, healthy life, Price answers, “My secret is keep breathing, it’s the only way to stay alive.” Mrs. Price adds, “…and have a younger wife!” He attributes his longevity to his wife’s healthy cooking and staying active. The couple say a good sense of humor and enjoyment of life are vital in their later years.
Next time you’re near the USO at Terminal 1, stop in and ask for George Price. Congratulate him on the first-place photo win because this wasn’t a win for me, the photographer — it was a win for this true American hero, and a win for the greatest generation that ever lived. Mr. Price might even tell you a story or two, like the one about his bucket-list trip to the cemetery in Normandy, and his participation in the noon-time flower presentation ceremony at the base of the monument.
Thank you, Mr. Price, for allowing me to tell your story with a photo. Thank you for volunteering at the McCarran USO Center, and thank you for your service to this community and country as a whole. I, and the airport family, salute YOU!
Credits:
Photos by Stu Morris, LAS Airport Services Coordinator