Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: MarineUS on January 22, 2011, 06:38:15 PM
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Oldest living member of 'Band of Brothers' dies
By TIMBERLY ROSS, AP
1 hour ago
OMAHA, Neb. — A member of the "Band of Brothers" who fought in some of World War II's fiercest European battles, Ed Mauser shunned the limelight and kept his service with the Army unit a secret, even from some of his family.
His role came to light only after his brother-in-law got him a copy of the HBO miniseries "Band of Brothers," said Terry Zahn, who met Mauser during a 2009 Honor Flight trip to Washington, D.C., to see the World War II memorial. Mauser, who died Friday, told his family that some of the things in the miniseries, like the locations of buildings, weren't quite what he remembered from being there in person.
But before that, "he never talked about it for years and years and years," said Zahn, president of the Midwest chapter of the 101st Airborne Division Association.
Mauser, 94, was the oldest living member of Easy Company, which is often better known now as the "Band of Brothers."
Born Dec. 18, 1916 in LaSalle, Ill., he was drafted in 1942 and volunteered for the 101st Airborne Division. He was assigned to Company E, 506th Regiment — Easy Company — which participated in the D-Day invasion of France and the follow-up Operation Market Garden. The 101st also helped defend Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge.
Historian Stephen Ambrose interviewed Easy Company leader wee wee Winters for the 1992 book "Band of Brothers," upon which the HBO miniseries that began airing in September 2001 was based. Winters, of Hershey, Pa., died earlier this month at age 92.
The miniseries followed Easy Company from its training in Georgia to the war's end in 1945. Its producers included actor Tom Hanks and director Steven Spielberg.
Mauser was not among the soldiers portrayed in the miniseries.
Zahn said he kept his service a secret, even from his relatives. After it became known, he reunited with some of his Army buddies and made a few public appearances. He preferred to stay out of the limelight.
"Don't call me a hero," Mauser told the Lincoln Journal Star in a 2009 interview. "I was just one of the boys. I did what I was told, and let's leave it at that."
Mauser had been fighting pancreatic cancer, Zahn said. Heafey Heafey Hoffmann Dworak & Cutler funeral home in Omaha confirmed his death.
Mauser was preceded in death by his wife, Irene. He is survived by a daughter, Laurie Fowler of Omaha. She did not immediately return a message left Saturday by The Associated Press.
A funeral service is scheduled for Wednesday in Omaha. Mauser will be given a military burial at Calvary Cemetery.
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Curahee! :salute
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Rest in peace sir and thank you for our todays.
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:salute Mauser.
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aww my favorite guy.
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wee wee Winters
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sorry - I posted this on another forum that doesn't allow the word Dick - ty for catching it! :salute
I was looking at a photo I was given last year of Easy Co. before they deployed. It was signed, but I didn't really look by who. I found out yesterday that this man is the one who signed it.....
(Well crap - I can't modify it - Skuzzy...could you help me out?)
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On a seperate note, the only beef many of the 101st vets have had with Band of Brothers, is it has made the public think that E/506th were the 101st Airborne in WW2, and this concern was shared by the guys of E/506th. It was one Company in one Regiment of the 101st. They didn't want the spotlight and its a shame that the same kind of coverage isn't given to all those guys along with all the WW2 vets we're losing these days.
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Sad to think in about 10-15 years, most, if not completely all, of the veterans of that war will be gone...