August 4, 2025 • 10 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, George Strake Jr. is a Texas oilman and lifelong adventurer with deep roots in both business and public service. But before all that, he was a groom racing against time. George shares a wild chapter from his younger days: the time he found himself stranded at sea as his wedding day loomed ever closer.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
And we continue with our American stories, and now it's
time for our American Dreamers series, and today is the
story of a guy named George Drake.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
My very first job was picking up newspapers during World
War Two in a little red wagon and taking them
to the service station for the war effort. He didn't
get paid a thing, but you got little badges and stuff,
so that was good. I can remember laying on the
floor listening to General MacArthur Spook on a radio.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Rich Pipe claimed most proudly.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Of course, you didn't have television, so everything was on
a radio. That old soldier never got Josh paid away.
I had a cousin who went over there. I had
(01:06):
a uncle who flew out of London bombing beaches at
D Day. I remember my sister was dating a guy
named Jack McConn. He was in the Battle of the Bunch.
He sent me and I still have it. Hitler's desk
set that his platoon liberated when they crossed the Rhine River,
(01:30):
and he let one of his kids take it to
school one day for a show and tell. And on
the northeast corner, in the northwest corner of the desk set,
there was an ink well, and one of his kids
broke this glass that the ink set off of that
thing there when he took it to school. But Jack
(01:51):
was a certified war hero. I mean he really went
to Hell in a hand basket. And course every family
had somebody who was wounded in it. Ay, I mean
everybody was committed to that war. It's it's so different
now now where we're more of a divided nation than
(02:12):
we are a united nation. I really wanted to be
growing up, was a a rodeo cowboy, and I I
would rather be on the back of a horse than
sitting in a chair. I loved roundups and brandings, and
(02:32):
then I realized that you needed to do a little
more than just ride on a horse, and if you're
gonna have a family and business and everything. I loved
the Navy. I wouldn't trade any two years my life
for the time in the Navy. The Navy gave me
(02:55):
a s sense of independence. So I had applied for
a Pacific theater and got assigned to an LST. LST
stands for a large slow target.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
I mean that's not what it really stands for right now.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
It's a landing ship tank. They had lots of them
in D day you could see pictures. Now there must
have been one hundred of them that were offloading tanks
and vehicles and troops and everything on the beach because
you can marry up to the beach on those things.
It was I mean, all of a sudden, you know,
people calling you, mister, I'm going who are you talking to?
(03:34):
It was really a learning experience. Nobody knows you. You
do what you do. Had either get the blame cord
or credit card. Oh this is crazy. I gave a
ring to a neet and we were supposed to get
married on January tenth. And on December sixth, one of
(03:57):
our two engines blew up on our lst. So we
were in Jakuski, Japan, and all these little Japanese guys,
you know they're all like this. They were down in
the engine room trying to get it fixed. And I thought, gosh,
how am I gonna do this? I got it. Uh,
we're gonna I'm getting married January tenth, and I I
(04:17):
know it takes two weeks to get back from cause
it'll only go eight knots. And so a carrier pulled
in and l l lowed up in front of us.
So I went up to the executive officer on the
carrier and I to ask him. I said, Cap, I'm
supposed to get married January tenth. I'm gonna sell let's
tea behind us. We don't go very fast. Would it
(04:41):
be possible for me to you to ride back with
you on on a carrier? So he said okay. So
I went back and I told the exact on our
ship who could not get a full sentence in without
an MF or F you or whatever, And so I said,
Then I talked to the exactly on a carrier up there,
(05:03):
and he's gonna let me ride back with him. He said,
you effing idiot. He said, you're a watchstandard. You can't
just pull off whenever you want. So I said, oh
my god, how am I gonna tell my wife and
mother in law I won't be at the wedding. The
Japanese guy said, we got it fixed, And so we
(05:25):
were getting ready to take off for San Diego, and
captain said, okay, if we get northa Guam without this
engine blowing up again, then we'll make it on him
too san Diego. We got due north of Guam and
the engine blew up again. So we had a boson
(05:47):
made old salty guy. He said, cap'n, I got an idea.
We're making about six knots right now. That lst has
two holes you know for cargo where you drop cargo
down through it and the canvas over it. And then
we have a crane on the deck. Oh this boats
(06:07):
of me, said, cam let me do this. He said,
I'll take the crane, put the boom up like that,
take the canvas from those two holes, and make sails
out of it. And he said. We get a prevailing
westerly wind and it ought to pick up but a
couple of knots. He said, okay, so that's it. And
when we got in San Diego, we had helicopters flying
over and the news cast it all here because this
(06:30):
limping boat back. But I got home two days before
we got married. I didn't have the guts to tell
my mother in law wouldn't be at the wedding. So
but I did show up. We got back, my brother
in law said, where are you going on your honeymoon?
(06:50):
Went honeymoon? So he said, he said, you don't He said,
don't I beleet that up. He got on the phone
and called this guy in town that had married Hetty Lamar.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
A famous actress in the thirties to fifties.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
And called it Lamar Hotel up there in Aspen. I
think it is. He said, I got my my brother
in law here. He's getting married and doesn't two days
and that doesn't know where he's going on. He said,
we'll make a long story short. He got us reservations
at Villa Lamar in Aspen, and that was the honeymoon.
(07:34):
But it was I was so happy to be here.
I didn't I didn't even think I was supposed to
plan anything. I think she had wonders whether it were
the last sixty years or not. But it has been
on a lark. I applied for Harvard Business School, and
to my surprise, I got selected. I'd saved about oh,
(07:58):
I think I'd saved about fifteen dollars, which is the
way I went to school. I was born into a
family that had money, but I sure didn't have access
to it. We had two children up there, too, which
that was interesting. I think the first year we were
up there, we went out to dinner three times. So anyway,
(08:19):
at Harvard you have classrooms of ninety students in a section,
and they always said that you lost about ten percent
of the students weren't invited back for the second year.
And I would sit up there in that class. I'd
be looking around and I'd say, that guy's not gonna
make it. And I was always about number six or
(08:41):
seven out of the nine that they said ten percent
weren't invited back. And I was always in my own
mind number six, seven or eight or nine. And when
we packed to come home, I told him that, I said,
just pack up all our stuff and put them in
those trunks back there, and then when I'm not invited back,
(09:02):
we'll just send the moving company up there to send
them all home to us. But my surprise, I got
accepted back second second year and then graduated from there.
But it gave me, you know, some stature when I
came back that I had gone to Harvard Bus School.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
George went to work with his dad at their energy
company that discovered the third largest oil field in America
and brought them tremendous wealth that their Catholic faith said
wasn't theirs.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
He got more thrilled and giving it away than he
did in building it up.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
And George is still working in the very same playing
office at his age.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Now that I've gotten a little older, I've gotten a
little wiser too, And I've learned that you can get
older if you put the word only in front of
your age, like I'm only eighty three, inst and I'm
gonna die. We know you're gonna die. Don't worry about it, yeah, guy,
(10:07):
But anyway, it's been a heck of a run.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
And he's right. Put the word only in front of
almost any age, and you catch yourself an extra ten
years easy. And it's just not reported enough the generosity
that so many entrepreneurs and so many people who founded
companies display. George Strake Junior's story is father's story in
(10:33):
a way, and a great family story, and of course
a great love story. Here on our American story
And we continue with our American stories, and now it's
time for our American Dreamers series, and today is the
story of a guy named George Drake.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
My very first job was picking up newspapers during World
War Two in a little red wagon and taking them
to the service station for the war effort. He didn't
get paid a thing, but you got little badges and stuff,
so that was good. I can remember laying on the
floor listening to General MacArthur Spook on a radio.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Rich Pipe claimed most proudly.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Of course, you didn't have television, so everything was on
a radio. That old soldier never got Josh paid away.
I had a cousin who went over there. I had
(01:06):
a uncle who flew out of London bombing beaches at
D Day. I remember my sister was dating a guy
named Jack McConn. He was in the Battle of the Bunch.
He sent me and I still have it. Hitler's desk
set that his platoon liberated when they crossed the Rhine River,
(01:30):
and he let one of his kids take it to
school one day for a show and tell. And on
the northeast corner, in the northwest corner of the desk set,
there was an ink well, and one of his kids
broke this glass that the ink set off of that
thing there when he took it to school. But Jack
(01:51):
was a certified war hero. I mean he really went
to Hell in a hand basket. And course every family
had somebody who was wounded in it. Ay, I mean
everybody was committed to that war. It's it's so different
now now where we're more of a divided nation than
(02:12):
we are a united nation. I really wanted to be
growing up, was a a rodeo cowboy, and I I
would rather be on the back of a horse than
sitting in a chair. I loved roundups and brandings, and
(02:32):
then I realized that you needed to do a little
more than just ride on a horse, and if you're
gonna have a family and business and everything. I loved
the Navy. I wouldn't trade any two years my life
for the time in the Navy. The Navy gave me
(02:55):
a s sense of independence. So I had applied for
a Pacific theater and got assigned to an LST. LST
stands for a large slow target.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
I mean that's not what it really stands for right now.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
It's a landing ship tank. They had lots of them
in D day you could see pictures. Now there must
have been one hundred of them that were offloading tanks
and vehicles and troops and everything on the beach because
you can marry up to the beach on those things.
It was I mean, all of a sudden, you know,
people calling you, mister, I'm going who are you talking to?
(03:34):
It was really a learning experience. Nobody knows you. You
do what you do. Had either get the blame cord
or credit card. Oh this is crazy. I gave a
ring to a neet and we were supposed to get
married on January tenth. And on December sixth, one of
(03:57):
our two engines blew up on our lst. So we
were in Jakuski, Japan, and all these little Japanese guys,
you know they're all like this. They were down in
the engine room trying to get it fixed. And I thought, gosh,
how am I gonna do this? I got it. Uh,
we're gonna I'm getting married January tenth, and I I
(04:17):
know it takes two weeks to get back from cause
it'll only go eight knots. And so a carrier pulled
in and l l lowed up in front of us.
So I went up to the executive officer on the
carrier and I to ask him. I said, Cap, I'm
supposed to get married January tenth. I'm gonna sell let's
tea behind us. We don't go very fast. Would it
(04:41):
be possible for me to you to ride back with
you on on a carrier? So he said okay. So
I went back and I told the exact on our
ship who could not get a full sentence in without
an MF or F you or whatever, And so I said,
Then I talked to the exactly on a carrier up there,
(05:03):
and he's gonna let me ride back with him. He said,
you effing idiot. He said, you're a watchstandard. You can't
just pull off whenever you want. So I said, oh
my god, how am I gonna tell my wife and
mother in law I won't be at the wedding. The
Japanese guy said, we got it fixed, And so we
(05:25):
were getting ready to take off for San Diego, and
captain said, okay, if we get northa Guam without this
engine blowing up again, then we'll make it on him
too san Diego. We got due north of Guam and
the engine blew up again. So we had a boson
(05:47):
made old salty guy. He said, cap'n, I got an idea.
We're making about six knots right now. That lst has
two holes you know for cargo where you drop cargo
down through it and the canvas over it. And then
we have a crane on the deck. Oh this boats
(06:07):
of me, said, cam let me do this. He said,
I'll take the crane, put the boom up like that,
take the canvas from those two holes, and make sails
out of it. And he said. We get a prevailing
westerly wind and it ought to pick up but a
couple of knots. He said, okay, so that's it. And
when we got in San Diego, we had helicopters flying
over and the news cast it all here because this
(06:30):
limping boat back. But I got home two days before
we got married. I didn't have the guts to tell
my mother in law wouldn't be at the wedding. So
but I did show up. We got back, my brother
in law said, where are you going on your honeymoon?
(06:50):
Went honeymoon? So he said, he said, you don't He said,
don't I beleet that up. He got on the phone
and called this guy in town that had married Hetty Lamar.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
A famous actress in the thirties to fifties.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
And called it Lamar Hotel up there in Aspen. I
think it is. He said, I got my my brother
in law here. He's getting married and doesn't two days
and that doesn't know where he's going on. He said,
we'll make a long story short. He got us reservations
at Villa Lamar in Aspen, and that was the honeymoon.
(07:34):
But it was I was so happy to be here.
I didn't I didn't even think I was supposed to
plan anything. I think she had wonders whether it were
the last sixty years or not. But it has been
on a lark. I applied for Harvard Business School, and
to my surprise, I got selected. I'd saved about oh,
(07:58):
I think I'd saved about fifteen dollars, which is the
way I went to school. I was born into a
family that had money, but I sure didn't have access
to it. We had two children up there, too, which
that was interesting. I think the first year we were
up there, we went out to dinner three times. So anyway,
(08:19):
at Harvard you have classrooms of ninety students in a section,
and they always said that you lost about ten percent
of the students weren't invited back for the second year.
And I would sit up there in that class. I'd
be looking around and I'd say, that guy's not gonna
make it. And I was always about number six or
(08:41):
seven out of the nine that they said ten percent
weren't invited back. And I was always in my own
mind number six, seven or eight or nine. And when
we packed to come home, I told him that, I said,
just pack up all our stuff and put them in
those trunks back there, and then when I'm not invited back,
(09:02):
we'll just send the moving company up there to send
them all home to us. But my surprise, I got
accepted back second second year and then graduated from there.
But it gave me, you know, some stature when I
came back that I had gone to Harvard Bus School.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
George went to work with his dad at their energy
company that discovered the third largest oil field in America
and brought them tremendous wealth that their Catholic faith said
wasn't theirs.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
He got more thrilled and giving it away than he
did in building it up.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
And George is still working in the very same playing
office at his age.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Now that I've gotten a little older, I've gotten a
little wiser too, And I've learned that you can get
older if you put the word only in front of
your age, like I'm only eighty three, inst and I'm
gonna die. We know you're gonna die. Don't worry about it, yeah, guy,
(10:07):
But anyway, it's been a heck of a run.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
And he's right. Put the word only in front of
almost any age, and you catch yourself an extra ten
years easy. And it's just not reported enough the generosity
that so many entrepreneurs and so many people who founded
companies display. George Strake Junior's story is father's story in
(10:33):
a way, and a great family story, and of course
a great love story. Here on our American story
Host
Lee Habeeb
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