Centreville Post Office Named After Local Veteran

Retired U.S. Army Colonel George Juskalian, a longtime Centreville resident, served his country during World War II, Korea and Vietnam. Now Congress and the Senate have recognized Juskalian's service in a unique way—by naming the local post office after him. 

H.R. 6392, which President Obama signed into law early this year, designated the post office on Westfield Boulevard in Centreville as the "Colonel George Juskalian Post Office Building." That's no small feat—many post offices do not have names. Juskalian's friends and fellow veterans worked hard to bring the idea to fruition after he passed away on Independence Day 2010, at the age of 96. 

Greg Mathieson, Juskalian's neighbor and close friend, organized a letter-writing campaign and hopes to have a plaque in Juskalian's honor placed by the flagpole near Juskalian's Virginia Run home as well. He lobbied Rep. Frank Wolf (R-10th district) and Sen. Mark Warner to sponsor the bill in favor of naming the post office after Juskalian. Representatives from the American Legion Post 1995 and VFW Post 8469 also wrote Wolf and Warner to help support the idea. 

American Legion Post 1995 Commander Peter DeFreece said that naming the building after Juskalian was an act that would do much more then honor one veteran's service.

"Although Centreville, Virginia has many residents that have served our nation with distinction, there is no monument, plaque or memorial dedicated to the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces. Naming the Centreville Postal Facility for Colonel Juskalian would represent a constant reminder to patrons of the service and sacrifices made by military veterans in their community," DeFreece wrote in a letter to Wolf and Warner. 

"By placing Colonel Juskalian's name and a small memorial in the Centreville Post Office, we honor him and all veterans within our community, past, present, and future."

Juskalian embodied the sacrifices made by the military members. His awards included the Legion of Merit, which is the Army's highest award for noncombat service, in addition to four Silver Stars, three Bronze Stars and the Army Commendation Medal. 

He joined the Army in 1939 and the following year, was called to active duty as a first lieutenant. He was captured by the Germans during the second World War, and spent 27 months as a prisoner of war in Italy, Germany and Poland. Gen. George Patton's son-in-law was in one of the same prison camps as Juskalian, and the two soldiers were concerned that the Nazis would use him as leverage, Mathieson said. It appears their captors never found out about the relationship. 

After returning to the United States, Juskalian served in Gen. Eisenhower's secretariat. He served in both Korea and Vietnam, and retired in 1967. He stayed active in both the VFW and American Legion; during his senior years, he was active in the Centreville community as well. 

Juskalian used to visit with children at elementary schools in Centreville and tell them about his years in the Army. He would often open up the conversation by saying, "when I was your age, an old guy came to visit my classroom, too," followed by a pause. "But he fought in the Civil War."

Juskalian had the students' attention with that line every single time, Mathieson said. He struck up a close friendship with Mathieson's own son, too, and inspired him to attend West Point (and wrote a letter of recommendation to help him get in). By sharing his experiences in the military, Juskalian wanted to try and impress upon a younger generation the importance of sacrificing for their country, Mathieson said.

DeFreece expressed the same sentiment in his letter to Wolf and Warner. "He shared a strong belief in serving—in the military or in other ways—in appreciation for the freedoms and rights enjoyed by all and paid for by few." 

Editor's note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated the relationship between Juskalian's fellow POW and General Patton. The man was Patton's son-in-law.