Those Who Served: M

  • Maas Sam
    Maas Sam

    T/Sgt. Sam L. Maas
    Serial No. 16050695
    U. S. Army Air Corps
    April 28, 1942 - February 4, 1945
    Pacific Theater

    I was a member of Lt. Gen. Millard Harmon's B-24 crew and, fortunately, was on furlough when Harmon's plane disappeared.

  • Manes Carl
    Manes Carl

    Sgt. Carl Manes
    Serial No. 36818242
    U. S. Army
    April 23, 1943 - February 2, 1946
    European Theater

    We were three brothers who survived in all four branches of the services during the war. The reason we served in all four branches is that Ronald served in both the Air Force and Navy. We all received a Purple Heart for injuries. My injury came while leading a group of fighters during the Battle of the Bulge, and I spent a month in the hospital.

  • Manes Milton
    Manes Milton

    Sgt. Milton L. Manes
    Serial No. 442672
    U. S. Marine Corps
    August 15, 1942 - May 11, 1945

    Like his two brothers, Carl and Ronald, Milton received a Purple Heart for injuries he sustained at Guadalcanal. Submitted by Carl Manes

  • Manes Ronald
    Manes Ronald

    Sgt. Ronald Manes
    U. S. Navy and U.S. Army Air Corps

    Ronald served in both the Air Force and the Navy. He suffered an ear injury after a 10,0000 foot parachute jump when his plane was forced down. He was awarded the Purple Heart. Submitted by Carl Manes

  • Mann James
    Mann James

    Capt. James R. Mann
    Serial No. 034915
    U. S. Marines
    1943 - 1946
    Pacific Theater

    On Okinawa, we were pestered by Japanese wooden bombers that escaped our anti-aircraft detection. One night one of these planes dropped four bombs directly in line with our tent. The fourth bomb landed 100 years from us, killing 18 Army personnel. There was no fifth bomb.

  • Mann JoAnn
    Mann JoAnn

    Capt. JoAnn G. Mann
    Serial No. L602734
    Women's Army Air Corps
    January 12, 1943 - December 21, 1945
    African Theater

    During my tour of duty I met Mrs. Roosevelt while in OSC. She asked such pertinent questions as to how our civilian skills were being used - no idle chitchat. I participated in a Seder in Casablanca for the Jewish service people, hosted and given in thanks by escapees from Europe. It was very moving. Very little English was spoken, but it wasn't necessary. My family shared the same concerns, as did all families who had children in service. My mother worked for the Red Cross.

  • Mann John
    Mann John

    Capt. John W. Mann
    Serial No. 01550218
    U. S. Army
    August 1941 - February 1946
    China-India-Burma Theater

    John took the last convoy through the Ledo Road, closing all stations. He said that the forest would obliterate the road in a few weeks after constant use would stop. On his way to India, John was able to spend five days with me in Casablanca, where I was stationed. Submitted by JoAnn Mann

  • Mann Robert W
    Mann Robert W

    Maj. Robert W. Mann
    Serial No. 01697779
    U. S. Army Medical Corps
    1941 - 1945
    European Theater

    I enlisted in the U. S. Army Medical Corps as a 1st Lieutenant. My first assignment of fourteen months was in conjunction with a special course in battle surgery at Harvard Medical School. I went overseas in December 1943, where shortly after we set up the 90th General Hospital in Malvern, Scotland. In August, we landed on Omaha Beach. Eventually, we began to handle battle casualties in central France. I was transferred in January 1944 to the 9th Army in Maastricht, Holland, and then to the 108th Evacuation Hospital. There, patients with severe injuries were cared for. We were close behind the troops to offer quick care. We crossed Germany and stopped at the Elbe River since the Russian Army (now an ally) was coming to meet them. The year in the European Theater ended shortly and we were transferred to Marseille, expecting to be sent to the Pacific. V.J. Day followed the atomic bomb.

  • Mantell Jack
    Mantell Jack

    Pvt. Jack Mantell
    Serial No. 3692275
    U. S. Army
    May 1944 - March 16, 1945
    European Theater
    Killed in Action

    Jack left for overseas on January 1, 1945. His letters told me he landed in England and then went to France where he had sentry duty. On a very cold night, a Frenchman offered him cognac to warm him. He was injured in France, but refused to go to a hospital. He wanted to stay with his group. On March 16th, he was killed in action at Pfaffenheck, Germany. As his family, I suffered heartache and tears all of these years, as we were just the two of us. Submitted by Bella Mantell Fisher

  • Marcus Leonard
    Marcus Leonard

    Leonard "Sonny" Marcus
    Serial No. 3077013
    U. S. Navy
    Stateside

    My rating was "Radar Technician" "Seaman 1st Class." My tour of duty was at Great Lakes Naval Station serving in the Communications Department. I was discharged after 2 years of service.

    After my discharge on June 22,1947, I married Shirley Altfeld of Milwaukee. We have 3 children--a daughter and two sons. Our son Marc has lived in Israel on Kibbutz Urim since 1973. Our son Ronald lives in San Diego, and our daughter Shelee lives in Highland Park, New Jersey. We have 7 grandchildren.

    I attended Marquette University, Wisconsin University and San Diego State University. I attained a B.A. degree in Journalism and a degree in Electronic Engineering. I hold a First Class FCC license, Private Pilot license and California Electrical Contractor license.

    In Milwaukee I had 3 businesses (Badger Lite Company, Creative Lighting & Sign & Lighting Service) running at the same time. All 3 businesses were sold in 1972 when we moved to San Diego. However, our "second home" is Milwaukee where we have a condo at Manchester village. My JWV Lodge and my Masonic Lodge are both in Milwaukee. While in Milwaukee I was active in B'nai B'rith, Temple Beth Israel, Milwaukee Lodge - Masons, Guten Post JWV and Habonim. I was also a Volunteer Police Officer in Glendale for 5 years. I have been retired since 1980.

  • Margolis Don
    Margolis Don

    T/5 Donald D. Margolis
    Serial No. 36227786
    U. S. Army
    1942 - 1946
    European Theater

    I landed in Europe 25 days after D-Day with the 9th Armored Division ad was in the Battle of the Bulge. My division also spearheaded Gen. Patton's 3rd Army crossing of the Rhine. The 9th Armored went all the way to Pilsen, Czechoslovakia, with Patton, and was there at the end of the war. I was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for individually delivering the weekly "Stars and Stripes" newspaper to the 100 companies of my armored division. My citation stated that I performed this task for a period of six months under most dangerous conditions behind the lines and at the front.

  • Margulis Hyman
    Margulis Hyman

    1st Lt. Hyman Margulis
    Serial No. 01637997
    U. S. Army
    October 16, 1942 - February 16, 1946
    European Theater

  • Marks Jerome
    Marks Jerome

    Maj. Jerome L. Marks
    Serial No. 0387445
    U. S. Army Medical Corps
    June 20, 1944 - November 22, 1945
    Stateside

    The most memorable experience during my tour of duty was experiencing two sub attacks in the Caribbean while on emergency leave from Panama to the United States.

  • Markus Walther
    Markus Walther

    Pfc. Walther P. Markus
    Serial No. 36286451
    U. S. Army
    1942 - 1945
    European Theater

    When the U. S. entered the war, my family and I were considered enemy aliens, having arrived here in 1939. I became a U. S. Citizen while stationed in the Army in Kansas. At home, my mother had to deliver our radio and cameras to the police. They were returned to me when I came home in uniform. I enlisted on December 8, 1941, and served in counter-intelligence in Europe. I was the first American soldier to enter the Heinrich Heine Haus in Dusseldorf, my birthplace. Since I spoke perfect German, I provided valuable service to the allies. I was able to find familiar places in Dusseldorf, many in damaged condition.

  • Marz Albert
    Marz Albert

    Sgt. Albert Marz
    U. S. Army
    September 1941 - October 1945
    Pacific theater

    In 1941, I spent the Passover Seder in the desert in California, conducted by a rabbi from Los Angeles. We were on artillery maneuvers at the time. I spent most of my time as a forward observer in the artillery battalion in Hawaii, Guadalcanal, then New Guinea, New Britain and finally in three campaigns in the Philippine Islands, before returning home.

  • Mautner Norm
    Mautner Norm

    Lt. Norman Mautner
    Serial No. 251782
    U. S. Navy
    1942 - 1946

    My Navy career can be divided into two periods - before going to sea and after. The "before and after" took place mostly Stateside - Boston, Staten Island, Miami, Sea Island, Georgia, Hollywood Beach and Seattle, plus Pearl Harbor and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. My sea duty covered 2 1/2 years aboard the Charleston, all spent along the Aleutian Island chain, from Dutch Harbor to Kiska and Attu Islands (held by Japanese until our forces arrive). Most of the time it was too foggy to navigate by instruments, so we relied on early makeshift radar--bouncing signals off three mountain peaks and marking our position where three lines intersected. One fond memory was the arrival of letters and Time Magazine by miniature V-Mail.

  • Mayerson Max
    Mayerson Max

    Max Mayerson
    U. S. Navy
    Pacific Theater

    Max Mayerson entered the U. S. Navy as an ensign. He was second in command of P.C. 478 on the South Pacific. Prior to honorable discharge, he was a ship's service officer in Florida.

  • Mechanic John
    Mechanic John

    Lt. Jr. Grade John Mechanic
    Serial No. 331082
    U. S. Navy
    September 1942 - December 1945
    Pacific Theater

  • Meissner Arthur
    Meissner Arthur

    Sgt. Arthur P. Meissner
    Serial No. 16191962
    U. S. Army Air Corps
    October 1943 - November 1945
    Stateside

    I trained as a radio gunner on a crew of B-17s. I spent time in Arkansas, where I was "adopted" by former friends and Milwaukeeans. Other air bases where I had my training were Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Yuma, Arizona; and at the end of the war, at a transition field in Lincoln, Nebraska.

  • Melrood Paul
    Melrood Paul

    Maj. Paul H. Melrood
    Serial No. 0560110
    U. S. Army Air corps
    December 1941 - March 1946
    Stateside

    I was drafted into the Air Corps. My first assignment was at Napier Field, Dothan, Alabama, in the public relations office. I wrote and produced a local weekly base radio show and was a staff artist on the post newspaper. On weekends, I taught Sunday school in the local Reform temple and was paid with Sunday lunches at the homes of congregation members. In April of 1942, I was chosen to go to the Air Corps OCS in Miami Beach, Florida. My first job as an officer was to be C.O. of the Casual Camp at MacDill Field, Tampa, Florida. The next four years were spent in administrative positions in airfields in the south and in the eastern part of the country. My last 2 1/2 years in the service, I spent at the Middletown Air Depot, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, as supply officer for the largest engine overhaul shop under one roof in the Air Corps. Upon release from active duty in 1946, I joined the Air Corps Reserve and served until 1952.

  • Meltzer David
    Meltzer David

    Cpl. David K. Meltzer
    Serial No. 13120430
    U. S. Army
    March 1943 - November 1945
    European Theater

    My first exposure to warfare occurred when our train, going into London from Liverpool, had to stop at the outskirts of the city during a German Buzz-bomb attack. Random areas of the city were hit and burning as we arrived in the city. What a welcome!! On the High Holy Days in September/October 1944, I was allowed to go back to rear echelon line duty in order to shower and partake in a religious service with the chaplain; that was when G-d started to become very important to me. Mother and father moved from Racine to Milwaukee in 1944 because they were now alone and Racine was a very quiet, lonely place for them without me.

  • Merkow Dan
    Merkow Dan

    Sgt. Dan Merkow
    U. S. Army Air Corps
    Pacific Theater

    As part of the ground crew, my permanent overseas base was Guam with the 3rd Photo Reconnaissance Squadron - "official photographers of Japan." Our B-29 planes photographed all missions to Okinawa, Iwo Jima and Japan. Our planes were with the bombers that dropped the atomic bombs and we photographed it all.

  • Meyers Jack E
    Meyers Jack E

    Lt. Cmdr. Jack E. Meyers
    Serial No. 360872
    U. S. Navy
    1942 - 1946
    Pacific Theater

    I left straight from college and enlisted in the Navy. I went to Newport, RI, to Advanced Officer's Training School. My ship, the U.S.S. Waukesha, took me through the Panama Canal to Hawaii late in 1942, and we were in battle. While on Okinawa, I experienced the fury of the Kamikaze attacks. Admiral Halsey of the 3rd Fleet was my "boss". I witnessed the signing of the peace in Tokyo Bay from the battleship U.S.S. Missouri.

  • Miller David
    Miller David

    Lt. David H. Miller
    Serial No. 144581
    U. S. Navy

    I served on "small craft" where I was usually the only Jew aboard. Some of the crew had never known a Jew before. Their reactions and comments were very interesting.

  • Mitz Milton
    Mitz Morry

    S/Sgt. Milton Mitz
    U. S. Army
    1938 - 1942
    European Theater

    We had a Catholic chaplain assigned to our company, and when we reached Germany, he conducted a Shabbat service for us. It was a thrill for all of us to have a Jewish service in Germany. My family experienced much anxiety during the war because both my brother and I were in the service at the same time.

  • Mitz Morry
    Mitz Milton

    Cpl. Morry Mitz
    Serial No. 36283661
    U. S. Army
    1942 - 1945
    Pacific Theater

    I was on Okinawa when Japan surrendered, an unbelievable experience. As a Jew, it was interesting to serve with a man from Alabama who had never seen a Jew. He kept insisting I couldn't be Jewish!

  • Moss Paul
    Moss Paul

    Lt. Col. Paul Moss
    Serial No. 0688089
    U. S. Army Air Corps
    August 1943 - October 1945
    Pacific Theater

    I flew 57 missions, which included bombing and reconnaissance missions in New Guinea and Borneo. On one 14-hour solo reconnaissance mission to an oil refinery at Balikpapan, Borneo, we were attacked by Jap zeros and escaped by heading for the clouds. We flew in the clouds for about 7 hours, and with less than 15 minutes of fuel, prepared to ditch in the Pacific in the dark. It could have been disastrous. Just at that moment, the clouds parted, and our base lay dead ahead. We landed with practically empty tanks. When I returned to the States, I became a navigator instructor at the Monroe, Louisiana, Navigator Training Center until the war's end. There I was introduced to kosher Cajun cooking by several Jewish families.