Unsung Hero: A Life Well Lived

By Richard Whinfield

The main character was a real person known to the author as a friend in his youth. That part of the story is true, but most of his stories after his youth is fictional.

Danny was born to immigrant parents in the small town of Kiel, Wisconsin, with population a little over three thousand, but Dan went on to achieve success in his life. A humble soul, he never aspired greatness, though he would have been capable of it. He eventually married his lovely childhood girlfriend after horrendous experiences in the war, and he went on to have a successful career.

This is a love story and a war story, and it illustrates a high sense of moral values and deep devotion and patriotism to his country and, like many of his comrades, a life well lived.

As a veteran of WWII, the author draws on his experiences and knowledge of the war in the southwest Pacific.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Mar 29, 2019
• ISBN: 9781984576798

Book preview

PROLOGUE

D AN HAD BEEN promoted to staff sergeant and was assigned to coordinate the combat medics in the field. His assignment was to see that the medics in the field had the necessary supplies, and if not, to see that they got them.

On December 15, 1944, Danny was with the medical Corp of the 32nd division and was taking part in the Battle of Leyte in the Philippine islands. Dan, with the help of three Filipinos, who carried the medical supplies to the battles front, was trudging under the cover of the jungle when the small group came upon a road. They would expose themselves by trying to cross it, but it had to be done. They were almost across when they were confronted by nine Japanese soldiers. The leader of the group ordered that the three Filipinos be shot, but the tall American soldier was to be captured. The three Filipinos were shot through their heads, dying instantly. Under orders, two Japanese soldiers grabbed Dan by the arms and a third poked him in the back with his rifle. Though Dan couldn’t understand the leader, he knew that he was being taken prisoner of war. Dan was dressed in camouflage clothes without his sergeant’s stripes, so he assumed that the Japanese thought he was an officer and wanted him for vital information about the U.S. Army plans, locations and fire power, something he knew very little about. Two of the Japanese picked up the supplies the Filipinos had been carrying.

Dan was unceremoniously guided through the jungle to a small Japanese compound. At one end of the compound was a bamboo cage with a half dozen other U.S. soldiers in it, and he was literally thrown in with that group.

He didn’t know any of the men, but it didn’t take long before he knew them all by name, where they were from and to what outfit they belonged. Four were from the First Cavalry Division; the other two were from the 24th Infantry Division. They had all been captured in much the same way as Dan had been. Most had been in captivity several days and one had been there for two or more weeks. Dan was told that they were treated brutally, which Dan could see from the abrasions, cuts and severe bruises each bore. None of them were officers, but the Japanese didn’t know that. The Japanese persisted in questioning each of them every day. The POWs pointed out the questioner to Dan. He was a short, somewhat plump baldheaded man with fiery eyes. He was an officer, probably a captain, but no one was sure. They told Dan that he could speak English and always carried a crop, which he used not only on the prisoners but on his own men as well.

After several hours, a Japanese soldier came to the cage, opened the door and pointed his rifle at Dan and said, Anata ga kimasu. Dan interpreted that as you come. He got up off the ground and was taken, with the rifle in his back, to the largest tent in the compound. Inside was the questioner, crop on an otherwise empty table before him. He didn’t stand, but motioned Dan to a chair on the opposite side of the table and Dan sat down.

The discussion began innocuously with the baldheaded officer. I speak English. I was in your country when I was young and went to grade school in Seattle for two years, so I know what you say. He asked Dan his name, rank and his outfit. Dan replied, I’m only allowed to give you my name, rank and serial number. My name is Daniel Maurer, I’m a staff sergeant and my serial number is 16259105.

Oh, said the inquisitor, your name and serial number are probably right, but I know an officer when I see one. Are you a captain?"

Dan gave his name, rank and serial number again. The baldheaded man got up, grabbed his crop and came around the table. He raised the crop and said, You tell me your rank.

Again, Dan told his name, rank and serial number and the inquisitor whacked him across the face with his crop, leaving a deep gash on Dan’s cheek.

Tell truth,’ the Jap said. I don’t need you to tell me lie. I know you are an officer. Now you tell me where your platoon is, how many men and how many machine guns and other artillery they have.

All he got was the same answer: name, rank and serial number.

The Jap asked again and got the same answer. He then called in two of his men and, under direction, they picked Dan up from the chair and with their rifle butts they slammed Dan in the ribs. In spite of the intense pain, Dan persisted in his answer. After more beatings he was knocked out cold. When he came to, he was back in the bamboo cage being administered to by the other men.

For two days he could hardly move, but still, on the third day he was hauled again to the large tent to face the baldheaded man whose name he learned from his fellow POW. His nemesis was a captain, better known to the POWs as Captain Jerk and, in spite of more beating, Dan always gave the same answer.

Two weeks after Dan’s capture, all the prisoners were loaded on a truck and taken to a larger compound where there were a few dozen other prisoners. The next day, all the prisoners were trucked to an air strip and put on board an airplane. They were flown to what Dan believed to be the island of Luzon and were taken to a large, long hut-like building which already housed over 500 POWs. There Dan met many of the survivors of the Death March, which Dan had read about the fall of Corregidor at the very start of the war. All those prisoners were just skin and bones for, over three years, they only got one meal a day that was usually fetid gruel and never got out of the building for exercise. Many were sick and on the verge of death. Dan learned that the place was near a town called Cabanatuan about seventy-five miles north of Manila.

One of the prisoners was a doctor who, when he saw the new prisoners, spotted Dan, and hurried to administer him. He diagnosed the chest pains as two broken ribs on each side, but they hadn’t punctured his lungs and, after looking at his other wounds, he used a sewing needle and silk thread, which he’d managed to conceal on his own capture, to be used to repair clothing. He stitched up the gash on Dan’s cheek and several other deep cuts. There was no anesthetic, so Dan had to tolerate the pain of the needle. When the doctor was finished, he said to Dan I think that’ll do it. I put in over twelve stitches. You’re lucky that these didn’t become infected, but now you’ll survive, even in this hell hole.

Life in that POW camp was a nightmare. Each POW had a half cup of boiled rice and a cup of water every day. Then they had to work in the tropical sun, hewing solid rock with pickaxes and shovels or cleaning up the camp. They were given Japanese ‘happies’—their kind of underwear—and nothing else. They had no hats, and most were bare footed’ many of them were suffering from a host of diseases: malaria, dysentery, beriberi—that was a real killer, – and worst of all, depression.

The work was very hard. Few bodies were able to stand up to it. Dan’s mental attitude was first to go his own way. Dan would psyche himself up each morning to face that day alone—not the next day, just that day. The next morning was the same. He was mostly thinking of himself and how he could avoid dying like those around him. But Dan was a survivor and a healer. With his medical knowledge he was able to help the doctor ease the pain of the dying and tend to those who suffered the most from frequent beatings. Giving care to others made him forget his own pains

Among the several Japanese officers in charge, Dan wasn’t surprised to see Captain Jerk, who seemed to take a special interest in Dan, frequently called Dan to his tent where he continued to interrogate him, and each time Dan would only give his name, rank and serial number. Each time he would be roughed up by two or more Japanese soldiers. It was all Dan could do to keep from fighting back, for if he did, he would most likely be killed. Dan would return to his compound where the doctor would repair what damage had been inflicted on Dan. Dan returned with deep frustrated, angry and hatefulness, emotions he had never experience before. He never thought it possible to kill another human, but, given the chance s, he just might do that to Captain Jerk!

CHAPTER 1

Immigrants

A STRONG GUST OF wind blew a cloud of fine snow past seven-year-old Danny’s window as he opened his eyes to start the new day. It was time to get up and help his pa milk the cows, feed the chicks, curry the horses and slop the pigs, a routine which never seemed to end, but Danny wasn’t anxious to start work today. He was comfortable in his small cot, recently given to him by his uncle Augy, with its springs and thin mattress it was a lot better than the straw tick he’d slept on most of his young life. With the quilt his mom had made for him keeping him warm, he wasn’t anxious to get out in that snow and probably a very low temperature.

Danny was small but lanky for his age. His straight sandy hair needed cutting, but it accentuated his oval face. His dark, almost black eyes, his pug nose and his rosy, freckled cheeks were all enhanced his thicker-than-normal lips, which seemed to disappear when he broke into a wide, loveable grin. Though on the thin side, he was strong for his age.

He knew it was coming: his ma calling him to get out of bed and, like all his other days, he heard, Danny, time to get up and get to work. Pa’s already out in the barn and feeding the cows from the haymow. Be sure to dress warm, it’s not only cold out there, it’s a blizzard.

Ja, ma, I know.

He wasn’t in a hurry to go out in that blizzard, so he lay in his warm bed for a while. But finally, and reluctantly, he climbed out of bed. He’d slept in his long underwear, so it was his outer clothes he needed to put on. He found his well-worn winter shirt, woolen socks his mom had made for him, and a pair of repaired corduroy pants that he put on. He had only two pair of shoes; both pairs were shoddy. One pair, the shoddiest, was used for working on the farm; the other was for special occasions like school or church. He had almost worn through the soles of his ankle high, leather farm shoes and his pa had put some heavy cardboard in them to help keep the soles of his feet warm. Then he had the most onerous task of the morning; going to the outhouse. He got dressed and made that awful trip and when he came back, he put on put on his bib overalls and woolen mittens and a cap, both knit by his ma. Then he went out to the barn to milk the cows.

Hey, pa, he yelled who was up in the loft, forking hay down to the cows. I’m here and going to get started on the milking.

Ja, dat’s gud, I be down to help ya soon. Gotta finish up here or dem cows won’t give milk.

There were twelve cows and, after learning how to milk when he was six, Danny had worked his way up to doing five each morning while his pa did the rest.

Danny didn’t mind the cold so much when he was milking, for the teats on the cow kept his hands warm. He’d sit on his little three-legged stool, bury his head into each cow’s lower abdomen and the animal’s body heat helped in keeping his head warm. Then, with a metal bucket between his knees, he’d get to work.

Danny, the only child of Martin and Elvira Maurer, shared about everything with his ma and pa. Every day his ma would wake him and, with his pa, he’d not only help with the milking but would feed the chickens, slop the pigs and, when necessary, curry the horses. When his chores were done, he was expected to make his bed and clean his room; all before breakfast.

Working on the farm was just about all Danny knew about the world, that, and what he learned each day at his school. What he’d learned at school seemed terribly remote to his life on the farm – it was someone else’s world, not his.

But that wasn’t true of Danny’s pa and his pa’s brother, Uncle August. They were both German immigrants and had learned a lot about the world.

*     *     *

In the mid nineteenth century, the states in the south and west parts of Germany, where Martin and August had been raised, had rebelled against their central government, seeking a bill of rights in what became known as the March Revolution. When the rebellion was defeated, the states were put under such great repression that large numbers of German citizens immigrated to the United States, Puerto Rico and Australia.

Because the land in Wisconsin was like that in south and west Germany, many Germans settled in Wisconsin, principally in and around Milwaukee, Sheboygan and Manitowoc. Those who fled were considered the ‘intelligencia’ of their states. They brought much knowledge and many skills, which resulted in the establishment of many successful businesses and enterprises, including agriculture, in and around those three communities,

Martin and August were two brothers who had lived with their family on a small farm in Bavaria. The family lived marginally with three sons and a daughter. As the children grew, and as Germany began importing grain, there was little use for home-grown grain and it became harder and harder to eke out a living. So, when the parents heard that two of their sons wanted to come to America, they reluctantly agreed for it would mean fewer mouths to feed. Martin was sixteen and August nineteen. The other son was only ten and the daughter fifteen; they decided to stay on the farm. The two young men left their family in May of 1913 with both fear and hope.

August was a tall, well-built man with an athlete’s body, developed by his heavy work on the farm, and after he left the farm, he worked in a machine shop to help earn money for the family. He was intellectual, very competent and had a very stoic personality. He spent much of his leisure time reading books.

Martin was of a different build and nature. He was several inches shorter than his older brother and was very animated and, though his body was slender, he was quite strong and very agile. He was more outgoing than his brother. Though neither brother was especially handsome, they were good looking.

The two brothers left home in May of 1913 and sailed on a freighter as part of the crew. Their destination was Kiel, Wisconsin. The brothers had chosen Kiel because one of August’s friends, Hans Gunther, had preceded them and built a successful open-air saw mill in the tiny town of Rockville, just two miles from Kiel along the Sheboygan River. He had encouraged August to come and work with him for August had great carpentry and had machine skills. When August had agreed to come, his younger brother wanted to join him, so they came together

When they reached New York, they couldn’t even get off the boat until they were examined for any physical or mental impairment. August was quickly released, but Martin was taken to a special building for further tests. August was taken by barge to Ellis Island and was very worried about his brother. But Martin passed all the required tests and a couple days later, he too was sent to Ellis Island where he happily joined his brother. The Island was crammed with people of many foreign counties and was, at first, very confusing to both men. But they quickly learned about the rule and the processes. It took a few days for them to get through the various paper work and money exchange, but then they were put on a train to Milwaukee and from there to Manitowoc where they were met by August’s friend, Hans Gunther.

There was a happy meeting of old friends and, after some twenty miles in a horse-drawn carriage; they finally got to Kiel,

Kiel already had many German businesses, most of which were doing very well. August was immediately employed at Hans Gunther’s saw mill; but Martin, who had worked only on the farm, had very different skills, so he had to seek employment elsewhere. It finally happened. He was hired by a cheese factory where he worked as a packager. Shortly after starting he was promoted to the Setup Operator where he performed maintenance to keep packaging in line with the processing. He was very good at his job, and well liked. It helped that everyone in the plant spoke German.

But that job didn’t satisfy his needs; he wanted to own and operate a farm. While he had a small sum of money which he’d earned in Germany, he needed more if he was going to do what he knew and liked best, so he saved every penny he could.

When Martin and August arrived in Kiel, they were immediately accepted by the Germans who had preceded them. But after only a year, on July 28, 1914, the First World War started and there was a considerable uprising across the nation against all people of German origin. When the British ship the Lusitania, a luxury liner, was sunk by a U-boat, the anti-German sentiment became even more intense.

By April 6, 1917, when the United States entered the war, that anti-German sentiment became a governmental concern. President Woodrow Wilson issued two sets of regulations on April 6, 1917, and November 16, 1917, imposing restrictions on German-born male residents of the United States over the age of 14. The rules were written to include natives of Germany and other European countries. All were classified as aliens. Some 250,000 people in that category were required to register at their local post office, to carry their registration card at all times, and to report any change of address or employment.

The same regulations and registration requirements were imposed on females on April 18, 1918.(1) Some 6,300 such aliens were arrested. All persons of German extraction were required to appear before a board for questioning, filling out papers attesting to their allegiance and were fingerprinted.¹.

Many German immigrants were interned in numerous spots across the country. Both Martin and August were afraid that would happen to them. But it didn’t; however, several of their friends were put into an internment cite at Camp McCoy near Lacrosse Wisconsin and weren’t even allowed to have visitors. After their appearance before the screening board, Martin was excused because he was needed in the operation of the cheese factory, and August was excused because he was needed in the lumber industry, both important for the war effort.

Neither of them had to serve in the army or navy, for certain German immigrants were exempt from ‘conscription’ for fear that they were still loyal to their home country and might disrupt their comrades when in actual combat.

But the brothers felt very anxious for their family, still in Germany. August got a letter from his mother telling him that their younger brother had been conscripted into the army; that they had lost their farm, which was to be part of a new airdrome; that she and her husband both were working in an ammunitions plant and that their sister was working on a dairy farm. That was all sad news but, at least so far, they were all alive. In yet another letter, smuggled out of Germany almost a year later delivered the bad news that their brother had been killed in battle.

*     *     *

Martin’s work in the cheese factory had a several benefits. He was well liked and was very productive. Besides earning money, he enjoyed making many new friends. One of the packagers was a young woman named Elvira Braune. She was a lovely lass, taller than the average woman; with shiny black, shoulder-length hair and eyes that smiled, particularly when Martin was around. Her German family had come to Kiel when she was just two years old and she had gone to school, where she learned to speak English. Since many customers were only English speaking, she not only was a packer, but would spend some time in the sales room where she could deal with both German- and English-speaking customers.

Martin would always find an excuse to be near her, but he was too shy to ask her out on a date. He struggled with that for several months but finally got up enough courage to ask her.

He was just learning some English and he asked her, You go fish fry mit me Friday?

Elvira blushed, leaned over her packaging and for a few seconds didn’t answer. But when she looked up, she had a big smile on her face and (in German) she laughingly and teasingly replied, Ja, ich würde das sehr gerne. (Yes, I’d like that very much!)

Friday fish fry was a well-established German tradition that continued in America and was a big event in Kiel and that’s where they went.

Martin, using his brother’s horse drawn carriage, picked Elvira up on Friday night and they went to Laack’s German Tavern and Ballroom where they had beer, fried fish, coleslaw and fried potatoes. They both ate heartily, for the food was served family style and one could eat all one wanted from a constantly-filled food supply. When they were finished eating, Martin asked her for a dance. There was an exuberant polka band playing and Martin and Elvira joined all the other dancers. Dancing was one skill he had learned in Germany that his brother had not learned. When the band put away their instruments it was time to go home, and they had both had a happy time.

Then one night after about six months of romance, they went to another exciting fish fry and dance which also was Valentine’s Day and Martin had gotten up his nerve. He had bought her a heart shaped box of candy which he hid under the seat of his carriage. Before she could get out of the carriage, he gave her the candy. She thanked him profusely, giving him a big kiss. Then, as she was getting out of the carriage to go into her house, he gently took her wrist. She turned, sat down again and looked at him with great surprise. She settled back into the carriage and he asked in his best English, You marry me?

With a startled look she blushed, lowered her head and closed her eyes. After several moments she looked up at him and said, Yes, but you have to ask my pa.

They both got out of the carriage and went into Elvira’s house where her ma and pa were seated. Martin, hat in hand, said hello. After an awkward silence he said, "Ich möchte ihre tochter heiraten. (I want to marry your daughter.)

Elvira’s parents, Adolph and Doris Braune, looked at each other and both began to smile. Her ma nodded her head and her pa, with a huge smile said, Fragten wir, wenn das passieren würde. (We were wondering when this would happen.) Then in English said, If she’ll have you we both say ja. He came over to Martin, grabbed his hand and said. Wilkommen in der familie. (Welcome to the family).

Mr. Braune owned a jewelry store and the next day Martin went to see him about buying a ring. When Mr. Braune saw him, he said, I know why you’re here; to buy an engagement ring, am I right?

Javohl, but I have not much money, so it be a small ring, answered Martin.

I know just what she’d like, and I will sell it to you for half price. He reached into the display case and drew out a sparkling diamond ring. The marked cost was beyond Marin’s resources, but at half price it was just right so Martin bought it and gave it to her that night.

Martin, who had worked at the cheese factory for three years, had saved every penny to buy a small farm, but it was slow to accumulate. His brother August had done very well with his work at the lumber mill and was the head foreman. He too had saved his money, and it was a lot more than Martin had saved. When August heard of Martin’s betrothal, he told Martin, Ich möchte dir das geld geben, das du brauchst, um eine farm zu kaufen. (I’d like to give you whatever money you need to buy a farm).

Now that he was getting married, Martin wanted more than ever to buy a farm. And he probably could since August had offered to give him whatever more money he would need. At first, Martin refused the generous offer, but he negotiated with August and agreed to accept the money as a loan. No papers were signed.

In Martin’s spare time, when