George Larkin was born on November 26, 1918, in New Haven, Kentucky. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps on November 27, 1939, and was trained as an Airplane Mechanic. Sgt Larkin served as a B-25 Mitchell flight engineer with the 89th Reconnaissance Squadron at McChord Field, Washington, until he was selected for the Doolittle Mission in February 1942. He served as the flight engineer on the 10th B-25 to take off from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CV-8) on April 18, 1942, and after bombing its assigned targets in Japan, the crew bailed out over China when their aircraft ran out of fuel. He remained in the China-Burma-India Theater after the raid, and served as a B-25 flight engineer with the 11th Bomb Squadron of the 7th and then 341st Bomb Group in India until he was killed in action during a combat mission near Assam, India, on October 18, 1942. Sgt Larkin was originally buried at Barrackpore, India, but his remains were returned to the United States in February 1951, and reinterred at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii.

His Distinguished Flying Cross Citation reads:

For extraordinary achievement while participating in a highly destructive raid on the Japanese mainland on April 18, 1942. Sergeant Larkin volunteered for this mission knowing full well that the chances of survival were extremely remote, and executed his part in in with great skill and daring. This achievement reflects high credit on Sergeant Larkin and the military service.