Photo courtesy of Melanie Perry.
J. Thomas Martin, president of the Alabama Veterans Memorial Foundation, presents Eddie Mauter with a folded American flag at during a Memorial Day step stone dedication May 20 at Alabama Memorial Park.
Three years, one month and seven days. That’s how long Eddie Mauter spent serving his country in World War II.
Mauter, a Vestavia Hills resident and frequent attendee of the New Merkel House, was born in Toledo, Ohio in 1922 and moved to Birmingham when he was very young.
“I stayed with my aunt. I thought I was in heaven because they had sidewalks … electricity, indoor plumbing,” he said. He attended grammar school in Cullman and was later one of three in his family to attend high school.
While in school, he worked at a filling station, a grocery store, the Loveman, Joseph and Loeb Department store downtown and Wilson Packing Company, until he was drafted into the U.S. Army and sent into basic training in North Carolina.
From there, Mauter was put in the mess hall, ordering and helping feed more than 3,000 people. “I thought I had made it,” he said, but was soon shipped to Texas for advanced infantry training. Within about 30 days, he was headed to Europe, towards the end of the Battle of the Bulge. He was stationed near the Elb River in Germany.
“They lost a lot of tanks, and that’s when they put me in a tank,” he said. “I’d never seen a tank before in my life, other than in the movies.”
Mauter’s responsibility was in artillery, where he was to load specific shells in his tank. But, he didn’t know which shells were which.
“I said, ‘What in the hell is an AP shell?’” he said, remembering the first time he had to load an armor-piercing shell. “To this day I don’t know if I got the right one or not … After getting a couple hours in a tank, I knew one shell from the other.”
Eventually, enemy forces hit Mauter’s tank, and the five troop members were forced to evacuate the tank amidst heavy fire. According to a speech by his son, the tank received heavy damage, and Mauter was hit and wounded. He credits his survival to the nurses and the women of World War II.
He said without the instrumental work of the women at home and abroad, many more men would have been taken from the front lines.
“If it wouldn’t be for the women, we wouldn’t be sitting here, talking,” Mauter said.
Mauter soon recovered and stayed in Germany working as a supply sergeant until it was time to return home. He was honorably discharged to Atlanta as a staff sergeant, where his wife — who Mauter married before he was deployed — greeted him, to his surprise.
“I’m still not sure how my wife knew to go there,” he said.
Upon returning home, Mauter built a house with the help of his wife, his bother and his sister-in-law, where they lived for four years. He later worked around the country as a plumber before returning to Birmingham as a foreman.
His brother served in the Air Force, and three of his four sons served in the armed forces: the Marines, the Coast Guard and the Army. Two of his grandsons also served in the Marines. Mauter was also instrumental in getting the American flags placed along U.S. 31 that many residents see today.
He has since received many honors for his time in service, including a Purple Heart as the Staff Sergeant Armor Division Battle of the Bulge, American Service Medal, Bronze Star, Good Conduct Medal and the WWII Victory Medal. He was also a part of the 2011 Honor Flight, one of the last to depart from Birmingham.
Mauter said his “Ike” jacket doesn’t quite fit the way it used to, but all of his accolades and medals are still proudly displayed on the uniform as a symbol of what he gave for his country.
“I’m just like everybody else,” he said. “They didn’t fire me, so I guess I did a good job.”
Senior Events
New Merkel House:
► Mondays and Wednesdays: Exercise, 10:30 a.m.
► Wednesdays and Fridays: Bingo, 11 a.m.
► Thursdays: Tech Talk
► July 4: Closed
► July 6: Welcome Summer Celebration
► July 10: Art with Tina Chaffin
► July 20: Hearing Screening, Alabama Institute of the Deaf and Blind.
Call 967-5977 for more details.
