He returned and was given a medical discharge, but struggled to support himself. On June 21, 1815, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy, and sailed to the Mediterranean on fighting in the Second Barbary War. His service records show the name "George Prince". Another Hawaiian, who had also made his way to New England, went by the name Henry Obookiah (also known as Ōpūkahia). Henry heard about George's war record, and located him. Henry had embraced Christianity and convinced George and three other Hawaiians to help the missionaries. The missionaries thought recruiting the war hero would be good public relations, and might have enhanced his war record. By autumn 1816, George was living in the home of Reverend Jedidiah Morse, and was taken to the Yale commencement exercises of Yale where he met Yale's President Timothy Dwight. He had learned to read and write English, since several of his letters survive. In particular, he wrote one to his father on October 19, 1816 about his travels and his hope to return. Near the end of 1816, a pamphlet titled "A Narrative of Five Youths from the Sandwich Islands" was published to raise funds for the mission board. It included portraits of each of the five students drawn by Samuel F. B. Morse, Jedidiah's son. The U.S. Navy at this point claimed that George had not been properly discharged, so proposed sending him to West Point Military Academy. The missionaries thought it would be helpful to them if he went, but George did not want to go to West Point. George's letter to his father was published, and when Samuel Cotting read it, he wanted to cash in on the celebrity by claiming he was owed money for the boy's care. George, basking in the attention, wrote a furious letter complaining about Cotting's treatment. Among the insults: "If I am worthy of the title of a Prince I am not going to be trodden under foot by such a dirty scoundrel as you are." On May 1, 1817 the Foreign Mission School at Cornwall, Connecticut opened its first term with George and the other Hawaiians as students. By the next term there were twelve students including Indians from Bengal and Calcutta, and a native American Indian. Samuel Ruggles and James Ely were learning to be mission teachers under principal Edwin Welles Dwight. Henry Ōpūkaha died in February 1818 (with the others at his side) but the school expanded under Herman Daggett.