Robert J. Kaiser Middle School Interview Archive

Welcome to the archive of interviews conducted by the Student Interview Program team from

Robert J. Kaiser Middle School

IX

Interviews Conducted under the direction of Club Adviser George Grobusch

 

This interview was conducted by the Robert J. Kaiser Middle School Student Interview Program. Robert J. Kaiser Middle School is part of the Monticello Central School District is in Sullivan County, NY.

 

Interview of Edward Maier: Summary of Service

World War Two Service:

Branch: United States Army Air Corps

Service Dates: 1/21/1943 to 11/10/1945

Rank: Corporal

Division, Unit, Station: 9^th Air Force, 2009 Ordinance Maintenance Company, working on P-51 Mustangs.

Summary of Service:

Basic training at Miami Beach Florida and Georgia. Service in England, France, and Germany.

Arrived in France on D-Day Plus 8. Operation Overload. Worked on transmissions in France, worked with te Red Ball Express. Visited Nuremburg at the end of the War.

 

Korean War Service:

Branch: United States Army

Service Dates: 11/10/1950 to 10/3/1951

Rank: Corporal

Division, Unit, Station: Kelly Field, San Antonio Texas

Summary of Service: Mechanic at Kelly Field

Interview of Edward Maier

Student Interview Program: Hello and welcome, thank you for sharing your service memories with our interview team. Could you please begin by sharing your name and birth date?

Edward Maier: My name is Ed Maier and I was born on June 17, 1923 at home in Wurtsboro New York. There was a Jewish doctor who delivered me in my parents home. My father was building a house at that time for a job and also worked other jobs when I was born. I grew up on a farm and I can remember the cows and horses. We had a pump at our house that you had to prime for fresh water. My grandmother at the time I was born had a hotel, and the guests would come in and they would wine and dine you. My grandmother sold the hotel to her sons and ten years later it burned down. After the fire we built a big house there and raised chickens.

Student Interview Program: Tell us about your childhood memories:

Edward Maier: I grew up in Wurtsboro and went to school not far from my house. There was a drugstore and pharmacy on my way to school. I used to go in there and buy rock candy for 2 or 3 cents. The Post Office is still there today and there use to be stores on the four corners of the street. I can remember one of the stores that was there sold dry goods, horse shoes, pots, and pans. The all cot house was across the street and some of the buildings went back to the revolutionary times. There was also a hotel and a museum. During the night one time someone set fire to one of the buildings and it caused a lot of damage.

Student Interview Program: During the depression you attended the Gumaer School and then attended Wurtsboro during the depression?

Edward Maier: The Gumaer School was a one room school house. There were young girls who were teachers. They would ride in on horses to the school house. In the winter and on cold days would have to cut wood and keep the fire going in the school house. We had an organ and we had to pump the machine to get air into it to make music. The teacher’s jobs were supplemental and they moved on every once and a while. Once you passed the exams in 7^th and 8^th grade you were given a diploma. After 8^th grade you had to go to a new school. I went to Monticello after 8^th grade but did not graduate because of the war. I took a bus to high school. One time we were going to school and the bus started to make a lot of noise and we had to go back to the garage. At the garage, the bus needed a new baring and it almost killed all of us. One day we were going across the Bridgeville hill bridge, and the bus scrapped the top of the covered bridge. There always seemed to be something going on with that bus. The bus had wood spoked wheels and the whole bus would shake when we were driving. 

Student Interview Program: Do you remember when Pearl Harbor was attacked?

Edward Maier: I was in school then. I was in the house where I was born. On Sunday December the 7^th, 1941, I was feeding chickens and gathering eggs. In the winter time the chickens were in the coop and we would gather the eggs every morning. After gathering the eggs, I walked back to the house and my Mother looked at me and said, Pearl Harbor has been bombed. I said where is Pearl Harbor? I eventually found out where it was. I was old enough at that time to be drafted. When the draft board called, I was sent to be tested and all of the branches of service were full, they couldn’t use us yet so I went back home. I went to work when I got back home working to make supplies for Marines in Bridgeport Connecticut. After a short time, I was ordered back to the draft board.

Student Interview Program: Would you share your service memories

Edward Maier: I reported to the draft board and took different tests. At the draft board, the guy said we can use guys like you so I enlisted. After taking more tests, a group of us were brought together and they said to us, you guys are really lucky, they are sending you to the Air Force. So, we were given new gear, and heavy coats because it was January and were then ordered to board a train. We boarded the train with our new gear and traveled south through different farm regions all the way to Miami Beach. We learned how to use fire equipment, trained, and cleaned aircraft. We were allowed off and could only call home once a week when they didn’t need us. During basic training, we marched down the streets and we couldn’t make any noise because people were there on vacation. We watched a lot of people on their holiday and one day we came up with a song about the vacationers. We said, wouldn’t you be sorry if the other side won, because of the German submarines and the big wheels of New York didn’t want to put their lights out at night. From Miami Beach, we went to Georgia for more training. After our tour in Georgia, we went to Kelly Field in Texas. We worked on B-17 C aircraft and took old engines out and put new ones in. We replaced clutches and did a lot of work out there. We did a lot of marching out there too. When new B-17s would come in, we would fly at least 30 days before they went to Germany.

Student Interview Program: Could you share about you experience in England? Did you experience any air raids with the Luftwaffe?

Edward Maier: We were part of the 9^th Air Force. We were ordered overseas and we had to load all of our supplies and departed for England. When we arrived, we lived in tents and then barracks were built. The officers had the best accommodations. On our way to the new air field, our trucks cut down the trees on the side of the road. We were told the Queen had to say that we could cut the tops off the trees for our vehicles and aircraft.

There were air raids about every night when it was clear. The Germans were dropping bombs all over. When we heard the air raid sirens, we would say, here we go, this is it, were going. We would hit the ground, and the air would be full of planes. We would try to protect the B-17s and B-24s. The B-24s was all arm operated, there was no power assist to turn the propellers over. There was a lot accident. One time a B-24 got caught in a cross wind and the plane tipped over and we got off the plane without injury. We had widened the roads with the help of civilians to make it safer for the aircraft. A few times the B-24 would make sharp turns and it would just destroy the houses, it had to be an awful feeling to lose your house. We had two gliders that were manufactured by the English and they were much safer and a much larger plane. They could hold a jeep and its two drivers. They could also hold personnel. If you had to jump out of a glider, you had to clip in and once you were out of the plane your parachute would automatically open. It was sad but a few times, guys would get their parachutes tied up in the tail of the plane and not make it.

Edward Maier: We arrived in France on Trucks on D-Day plus eight. That is, 8 days after Operation Overload, D-Day. As the trucks went off the ship they had to drive into the water. Our officer was a German, he went through West Point and he really got us to work. One day the sergeant said are you guys ready to take the trucks out? We took the trucks out and loaded up what we needed and we were off. One of the trucks was given special supplies of drinks that made our guys happy when we got back to our new depot. We had lots of fun working on windshields. A lot of the trucks and jeeps had the windshields removed because of the sun glare. We had to install wire cutters on the trucks and jeeps because the Germans were putting wire across the roads and were causing a lot of damage and deaths to our guys. I remember this one time the sergeant called a group of us together to go over and see where the Germans were shooting from. We found a German position with rifled guns on top of a hill. They were feeding the rifled barrels and they could shoot anywhere. When we got to the spot, we took fire but were able to get the German Position.

Student Interview Program: Sir, thank you for taking the time to share your story with us.

 

 

This interview is dedicated to the memory of Edward Maier. Edward Maier was an alumnus of the Monticello Central School District. Edward Maier was unable to complete his high school career due to the Second World War and entered the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1943. In June of 2017, at the age of 94, Edward received his high school diploma from Monticello High School.