Band of Brothers: Remembering PFC Edward A. Mauser
Source: Find a Grave (c/o SergeJean Lemaire)
Private First Class (PFC) Edward Anton Mauser of Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR), 101st Airborne Division, was born in La Salle, La Salle County, Illinois, to Joseph and Tania Anna (Yanka) Mauser on December 18, 1916. Edward had one older brother, Joseph Mauser Jr., and four sisters: Gazella, Anna, Mary, and Jeanne V. Mauser.
Ed Mauser registered for the draft in his hometown on October 16, 1940, while working in the wristwatch department at the Westclox clock factory in La Salle. He enlisted in the U.S. Army at Camp Grant, Illinois, on January 19, 1942. His first duty station was at Fort Riley, Kansas, with the horse cavalry. On March 17, 1942, he was transferred from the Cavalry Replacement Training Center at Fort Riley to Fort Benning, Georgia.
PVT Mauser was transferred from the Parachute Training School at Fort Benning to the Medical Detachment of 506th PIR at Camp Mackall, North Carolina, on May 10, 1943. The next day, on May 11, he was assigned to Easy Company, becoming one of “The Band of Brothers.”
In early September 1943, he traveled abroad to England, where he made the final preparations for his first combat jump into Normandy on D-Day. He jumped from the C-47 alongside a stick of Easy Company paratroopers led by Lieutenant Lynn Compton.
During the flight, PVT Mauser’s plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire. Another C-47 carrying most of Easy Company’s headquarters, including their commander, Lieutenant Thomas T. Meehan III, along with three of his top non-commissioned officers: 1SGT William S. Evans, SSGT Murray B. Roberts, and SGT Elmer L. Murray Jr., and 14 additional paratroopers, was also shot down by anti-aircraft fire.
After jumping from his plane and drifting down, Ed Mauser looked back and saw LT Meehan’s aircraft crash into a hedgerow and explode as the pilot tried to land.
On June 16, while fighting in Normandy, Ed Mauser was appointed Private First Class. He made his second combat jump into the Netherlands on September 17, 1944, at the start of Operation Market Garden.
On the night of October 22–23, 1944, PFC Mauser took part in Operation Pegasus, where a small group of around 24 paratroopers acted as the protective unit for the rescue route of 130 Allied soldiers, mostly British paratroopers, as they crossed the Neder-Rijn River to reach their own lines.
In addition to earning a Bronze Star Medal, PFC Mauser received his second Combat Infantry Badge for participating in combat in the Netherlands.
Like all the other Screaming Eagles, PFC Mauser was rushed to Bastogne on December 18, 1944. During the Battle of the Bulge, he was lightly wounded in action by an artillery shell on January 16, 1945, and received a Purple Heart Medal.
Source: Find a Grave (c/o Daisy Piper)
PFC Ed Mauser fought with Easy Company throughout the rest of the war before returning home. After the war, Ed went back to work for Westclox and married Irene Furlan in 1950. Their marriage was blessed with one daughter, Laurie.
Ed never attended any reunions till the HBO miniseries “Band of Brothers” became popular. He reunited with some of the Easy Company men and made a few public appearances, but 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.”
When he learned that the highly respected former Easy Company commander Major Dick Winters had passed away on January 2, 2011, Ed Mauser commented: “He's leading the way for me … one last time.”
On January 21, 2011, not even three weeks later, Ed made his final jump to reunite with his former buddies and commander. 🦅
May he rest in peace.
Happy Birthday in Heaven, Ed.
Lest we forget. 🇺🇸
Photos courtesy of Lemaire S. from Find a Grave
Sources:
NARA
Family Search
The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts); Monday, January 24, 2011.
Ed Mauser: Easy Company’s Silent Brother by Kevin M. Hymel