HomeMy WebLinkAboutAlbert J. "Al" Maurer, Brazos Valley Heroes „
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Albert J. "Al" Maurer is 87 years old now but to hit the beach on Luzon Island.
still plays golf or gardens daily and is very thank- "We had to dig in on the beach behind a rock
ful for that opportunity. In 1944, as an infantry- wall. After we dug in, the tide started coming in.
man in New Guinea, as part of the 6th Infantry We lay in the water all night long. Our skin felt like
Division, his only thought and hope was that he it was about come off."
would survive the night. Thust the first of many days of con -
Maurer entered the Army in May of 1941 stant combat for Maurer and the 6th. From that
from Beverdam, Wisconsin. He was sent to Camp landing, they pushed the Japanese back and
Wolters, Texas for his basic training, then to desert became the first Americans back into Bataan, ilia
training in San Luis Obispo, California, and jungle eventually being part of the troops that liberated
training in Hawaii. There they trained to fight in the survivors of the Bataan Death March.
the worst environment American troops were to "I walked up the same road those guys had
face during World War II - New Guinea. walked, some to their death. When we liberated yo
"I was in the first wave of infantry to hit the them, they were nothing but skin and bones. Guys
beach at Maffin Bay. We were under the command that were 30 years old looked 70."
of General Douglas McArthur. It was my first com- Before the war ended, Maurer and the men of
bat experience, and it became a lasting memory." the 6th had captured the Japanese General
Their objective was an enemy position known Yamashita, the self - proclaimed "Tiger of Malaya."
. as Lone Tree Hill. What the Americans didn't know They had also been the most heavily engaged divi-
' was the Japanese had intended Lone Tree Hill as a sion in the Army. In all, they spent 219 days in
. trap. The Americans were allowed to reach the continuous combat. Of the 170 men in Maurer
top, where they had very little cover. The Japanese started with when his unit left Hawaii, only 38
planned to bombard the hill with artillery by day returned home with the unit. `°
and counterattack it by night until the Americans Maurer often remembers his fellow soldiers."
were forced to retreat. "We will hold a reunion this July but we only eli
"You learned two things real quick: That your had 110 attend the last one. This is out of over 1
life depended on the guys next to you and that the 25,000 that were in the division. We are getting
moon was our friend. When the moon was out the thinned out."
w; Japs didn't try to hit us, but when the moon was After the war, Maurer became a cattle buyer
down they came every night. They would come for Wilson Packing Company and has been in the
crawling quietly sometimes and other times in a cattle import business all over the world. He fol-
banzai attack where it seemed that all hell was lowed his sons to Brazos County, where he has
breaking loose. been retired for the last several years. If you don't t
"New Guinea was tough terrain and the jun- see Al Maurer on the golf course, check his gar -
gle was pretty much impenetrable. You never real- den.
ly got to see the enemy because the jungle was so Albert J. "Al" Maurer's name can be found on
thick. On patrol, you couldn't get off the trails. On the Brazos Valley Veterans Memorial. If you would
New Guinea, I learned that the Japanese soldier like to make a contribution or know a World War II
i didn't mind dying." veteran whose story needs to be told, contact
The greatest battles that Maurer and the 6th Brazos Valley Veterans Memorial at www.veter-
would fight would be on the Philippine Islands. As ans- memorial.org or Bill Youngkin at 260 -7030.
in New Guinea. Maurer was also in the first wave