Dr. George Shelton was born in Stephenville, Texas. 

He joined the US Army Air Force in January, 1943 and served in 1944 and 1945 as a radio operator on a B-25 strafer/bomber in the Southwest Pacific.  He entered Texas A&M five days after his discharge and graduated in 1948, moving to Missouri.  He began a general veterinary practice in California, Missouri, and a short time later he joined the faculty of the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Missouri, Columbia.  Over the next twenty-four years he became professor, department chair and Associate Dean for Academic Programs.  In 1973 he was named Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine at his alma mater, Texas A&M. 

Dr. Shelton has authored many scientific and professional articles.  In addition, Dr. Shelton authored the book “Treetop Airmen”.  The story is fictional, however, it is based on the real experiences of a strafer combat crew that flew in the Southwest Pacific in 1944-45.  The story was written fifty-five years after the fighting took place.  Treetop Airmen’s Barry Willis is based on Dr. Shelton’s wartime experience.