After baseball, George became a communications officer in the Navy and served aboard the ill-fated. Ensign McKinnon was soon seeing plenty of action aboard the aircraft carrier. "We were attacked by two waves of bombers, got 16 of 18, and it is doubtful if the other two got home," he told the Harry Grayson on April 22, 1942. "I saw the entire action and there was more cheering on our ship than at a Northwestern-Notre Dame football game. On May 8, 1942, things took a dramatic turn for the crew of the USS Lexington. The aircraft carrier was torpedoed and sunk by Japanese destroyers during the Battle of the Coral Sea. McKinnon, however, survived the sinking and served out the duration of the war for the Navy, but an eventual return to civilian life did not mean a return to the diamond, at least not as a player. After he was sent back to the US to recuperate, and Navy officials, noticing his outstanding baseball play and Northwestern University, assigned him to coaching duties with Navy football and baseball teams.
Coaching career
The years that followed the war McKinnon began his illustrious coaching career as a football assistant to Ara Parseghian in 1961. He also coached baseball for the Wildcats. During his 20 years as head baseball coach, McKinnon led the Wildcats to five 20-win seasons including a career best 28–12 record in 1973. George served as the head coach of the NU baseball program from 1962–81 and compiled a 304-391-6 record over that span. At the time of his retirement following the 1981 season, he was the school's winningest coach in any sport. He also took a teaching and coaching position at Fenn College, coaching both basketball and baseball. He earned his master's degree from Western Reserve in 1947 and joined the coaching staff at Cleveland Heights High School the following year. He remained there for 12 years before returning to NU as an assistant football coach to Ara Parseghian. In 1978, he earned an award for 25 years of leadership and devotion to collegiate baseball from the American Association of College Baseball Coaches. He is also a member of the Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame and was inducted in the Northwestern Athletics Hall of Fame in 1994.
Death
McKinnon died on December 14, 2009 at the age of 91.
