Meyer was from Brooklyn, New York; he was one of the many American volunteers who fought for France during WWI. We strongly suspect that he was born Gaston Rene Marcel Mayer (not Meyer). The family moved from New Haven Connecticut to Brooklyn when he was a young boy, and he may have changed his name to "George" so he would fit in. An article in the Evening Star (Washington D.C.) from Sept 19, 1917, written by Algernon Sartoris, has the following information: " (A brawl seemed about to break out in the barracks at La Valbonne.) Personally, together with another American, George Mayer by name - since, alas! killed in action - I managed to get out of a door and wait in the street until order was restored. ... On the whole, I like these men... I have already spoken of young Mayer, as nice and clean a lad, morally and physically, as ever I knew, a credit to any army and to any service. Not enough has been said about him and his noble death." Gaston Mayer wwas killed by an artillery shell on April 17, 1917. According to Paul Rockwell, he "was blown to pieces by a German shell before he ever had his chance to go 'over the top'".