George William Grider (October 1, 1912 – March 20, 1991) was a United States Navy captain, an attorney, and a Democratic U.S. representative from Tennessee from 1965 to 1967.
Early life
Grider was born in Memphis, Tennessee, son of John McGavock Grider (killed in action, World War I, aviation), and the brother of John McGavock Grider Jr. As a youth, he attended the public schools and received an appointment to the United States Naval Academy (USNA) in Annapolis, Maryland, where he was graduated and received his naval commission in 1936. While at Annapolis, he married in secret in contravention to USNA regulations, and was officially married in 1938.
Naval career
thumb|Yearbook photo of Grider as a midshipman first class
After Grider's commission as an ensign, he was assigned to the USS Mississippi (BB-41), as catapult officer, and subsequently to the USS Rathburne (DD-113).
After this service Grider was assigned to the Navy's Submarine Warfare School, and following his successful completion of its requirements was assigned to one of the World War II era's most accomplished submarines, the
USS Skipjack (SS-184).
Grider was serving as an instructor at the Fleet Sonar School in San Diego, California, at the time of the Pearl Harbor attack, and then assigned to a submarine deployed in the defense of San Diego during the time after the attack when both naval and civilian officials wondered if the attack was to be followed by an attempted Japanese invasion of the West Coast.
Subsequently, Grider was assigned to the as engineering officer, serving behind Dudley W. Morton and Richard O'Kane, and then to two billets as executive officer, on the , and the
. After this, he was given command of the , and then . For his service Grider was awarded the Navy Cross. Grider told the story of his World War II experiences in the submarine service in the book War Fish which he wrote with Lydel Sims, published in 1958 by Little, Brown and Company.
Grider was forced to retire from active naval service at the rank of captain in 1947 after suffering a heart attack. He then enrolled in the law school of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia, where he was graduated with a law degree in 1950 and then, subsequent to his admission to the Tennessee bar, began the practice of law in Memphis.
World War II summary
{|border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" align="center"
|+Summary of CDR George W. Grider's War Patrols
|-
! scope="col" style="background:#efefef;"|
! scope="col" style="background:#efefef;"|Departing From
! scope="col" style="background:#efefef;"|Date
! scope="col" style="background:#efefef;"|Days
! scope="col" style="background:#efefef;"|Wartime Credit<br />Ships/Tonnage
! scope="col" style="background:#efefef;"|JANAC Credit<br/>Ships/Tonnage
! scope="col" style="background:#efefef;"|Patrol Area
|-
! scope="row" style="background:#efefef;"|Flasher-5
| align=left|Freemantle, Australia
| align=center|November 1944
| align=center|48
| align=center|5 / 41,700
| align=center|6 / 42,868
| align=left|South China Sea
|-
! scope="row" style="background:#efefef;"|Flasher-6
| align=left|Freemantle, Australia
| align=center|January 1945
| align=center|75
| align=center|1 / 2,100
| align=center|1 / 850
| align=center|7 / 43,718
However, Grider was to serve only one term in the House; in November 1966 he was defeated for reelection by Shelby County Republican Party former co-chairman Dan Kuykendall,