George Rentz received his undergraduate degree in 1903 from Pennsylvania College (now Gettysburg College), and received his masterÕs degree in 1909. Upon graduation he was ordained a Presbyterian minister of the Presbytery of Carlisle (Pennsylvania) on May 18, 1909. His first assignment was as assistant pastor of Market Square Presbyterian Church in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. During World War I he was appointed Temporary Acting Naval Chaplain at Marine Barracks, Point Royal, South Carolina, where he served until 1919. Service continued at Indian Head, Maryland, until 1921, when he went to sea as chaplain aboard the U.S.S. Florida until 1922. Other ship-board assignments followed including the U.S.S. Quail (1924), and U.S.S. Wright (1927), and after state-side assignments, aboard the U.S.S. West Virginia (1937) and U.S.S. Augusta in 1940. He was subsequently assigned to the U.S.S. Houston in the Southwest Pacific Theater of Operations, where he was serving when World War II began. He was within one year of retirement when, on March 1, 1942, he perished along with 800 sailors (out of an original crew of 1,168) when the U.S.S. Houston was sunk in the Java Sea.
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Cemetery:
Awards Received
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Navy Cross
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Navy Cross
Service:
United States NavyRank:
Commander (ChC)Division:
U.S.S. Houston (CA-30)Action Date:
February 28, 1942
The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Navy Cross (Posthumously) to Commander (ChC) George Snavely Rentz (NSN: 0-17993), United States Navy, for extraordinary heroism and distinguished service in the line of his profession as a Navy Chaplain, serving on board the Heavy Cruiser U.S.S. HOUSTON (CA-30), following the sinking of his ship in the Asiatic Area on 28 February 1942. While clinging to an airplane pontoon with other survivors of the HOUSTON, Chaplain Rentz, noting that some of the injured men were without life jackets, and seeing that all life rafts and floating debris were overcrowded with survivors, stated that since he was an older man who had lived the major part of his life, he was willing to go in order to give his place on the pontoon and his life jacket to one of the wounded men. He made several attempts to leave the pontoon but each time was restrained by those with him. During the night, however, he succeeded in carrying out his intention. He disappeared into the sea, sacrificing his life so that another might have better chances of survival. His life jacket was found on one of the wounded men. His exceptional courage, his noble sacrifice, and his outstanding devotion to duty while serving aboard the HOUSTON and at the time of her sinking, were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.