George E. Kapotas was born on February 22, 1924 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His father, Anastasios Kapotas or Kapotas, was born in 1892, in Paleochorion, Doris Province, Phocis District. At the age of 19, he decided to emigrate to the USA, along with three other fellow countrymen, in search of a better life. The other members of his group, with whom he would travel, were Joannis Brumas, Georgios Eliopulos and Charalambos Katjabakos. The four friends departed from the port of Patras on the passenger ship SS ATHINAI, arriving in New York on 17 April 1911. The young immigrant, during the screening process at Elllis Island, in order to be allowed to enter the USA, changed his name to Ernest J. Kapotas. He initially resided in Milwaukee, Massachusetts, as a guest of a friend, George Papadimitriou, and there he worked in various factories in the area. After a few years, now married, he moved to Minneapolis where he settled permanently with his wife Agnes, who was of Scandinavian descent. With her he had three children, Elaine, John and George. The professional prospect of a military career seemed to interest young George E. Kapotas from his early teens. This resulted in him enlisting in the US Navy on June 5, 1941. The fact that he was still a minor, only 17 years and 4 months old, indicates that there was written consent from his father to allow him to enlist. It is worth noting that at that time the United States was still conducting peacetime operations under a policy of neutrality, despite the fact that World War II was now raging in Europe. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was to occur 6 months later. The young recruit initially reported to the Naval Training Station, which was located in the Great Lakes region of Illinois. There he was assigned military registration number 328-92-06 and was designated an Apprentice Seaman. Upon completion of training he was sent to NAS ALAMEDA Air Station in California, where he reported on 24 August 1941 for further training. On 5 October 1941 he was promoted to Seaman 2nd Class (S2c - Seaman 2nd Class). On 7 December 1941 the peaceful American daily routine came to an end as the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, forcing the US to enter the war. The need for aircrews grew rapidly and Kapotas applied to train as a flyer, eventually being selected for air gunner training. In mid-January 1942, Kapotas, along with other colleagues, boarded the gunship USS WHARTON (AP-7) and departed San Francisco, bound for Hawaii. On 18 January 1942, he reported to the Naval Receiving Station at Pearl Harbor. There he remained as a transient personnel for about twenty-four hours, awaiting further orders. The same group of 420 men who traveled on this ship included another Greek. He was Seaman First Class Theodore A Kyriopoulos (s/n 368-54-61), with whom they knew each other from their service on the Alameda. Kyriopoulos came from Koroni, Messina. After qualifying, he served briefly aboard the aircraft carrier USS SARATOGA (CV-3) as an Aviation Metalsmith3rd Class (AM3c). He was then transferred to shore duty and for the remainder of the war served in Hawaii as an aircraft accountant with Carrier Aircraft Service Unit Two (CASU-2).

Kapotas was selected to be trained as a radio operator/gunner on dive bombers. So on 19 January 1942 he was assigned to temporary duty with Carrier Division One, which was based at Kaneohe Bay Air Station (NAS). On 25 January 1942, after a week of training, involving Browning 0.30 in. machine gun armament training, he was transferred to Carrier Aircraft Service Unit Three (CASU-3). This unit provided training to the technicians and aircrews of the newly formed Carrier Air Group FIVE (CAG - 5) Wing. Soon the young Greek-American was assigned as crew to Ensign John T. Gildea, who was to fly as pilot of a two-seat SBD-5 Dauntless bomber, VB-5, now with George E Kapotas in the back seat as an Aviation Radioman 2nd Class. Gildea's father was a WWI pilot and had passed away in 1929. The young pilot proved to be a worthy continuator of the family aviation tradition, inherited from his father, as his war record later proved him to be an excellent pilot. Upon completion of training, the squadrons of Air Group-5, boarded the aircraft carrier USS YORKTOWN (CV-10). On 22 August 1943, they departed for the South Pacific front and over the next few months took part in the operations conducted against the Japanese, at Marcus Island, as well as the Marshall and Gilbert Islands, until late 1943. Throughout this time the Gildea - Kapotas crew flew together on all kinds of dangerous missions, bravely facing the dense anti-aircraft fire and fighter planes of the Japanese. Unfortunately, their luck would soon run out and the experienced pair of aviators would be forced to call upon all their mental and physical reserves to survive, reaching one step before death. At dawn on December 4, 1943, VB-5 recovered from the deck of the aircraft carrier USS YORKTOWN (CV-10), 24 SBD-5 Dauntless bombers, which headed for Kwajalein Atoll in search of enemy shipping. Ensign Gildea along with Kapotas (ARM2c) were now on their eighth mission. The two airmen were manning the Dauntless with a side fuselage number "35", the aircraft's Bureau Number not known, carrying a 1,000-pound penetrating bomb in the ventral suspension pylon. Also participating in the same mission were 19 F6F-5 Hellcats of the VF-5, along with 17 TBF-Avengers of the VT-5. Arriving west of Roi Island, the SBD-5 operators spotted a Japanese Mitsubishi G4M "Betty" twin-engine bomber in close proximity watching the formation and reported its presence. Almost immediately a quartet of VF-5 Hellcats attacked and shot down the enemy aircraft. A number of ships of various types were spotted in the Kwajalein Island anchorage and the pilots' preference was given to a large Japanese cruiser, which received four key bomb hits. The coastal Japanese batteries opened fire, creating a terrifying barrage, unleashing a dense barrage of barrage fire. As explosions from the 3-in and 5-in shells rocked the atmosphere, Gildea and Kapotas suddenly felt their aircraft shaken, by the shockwave of an explosion, before they could sink on the target.