Another Band of Brothers

With great pride and interest I have recorded a sliver of the Maple family history as it relates to the World War II military service of brothers Richard (Dick), Francis (Bud), and Robert (Bob).  In early summer of ’08 my nephew Greg Maple was enjoying the best seller Band of Brothers by author Stephen Ambrose.  While reading this now famous story his thoughts wandered to his grandfather and great uncles who he remembered had seen active roles in “The Big One.” In an email to me he professed hope that I could shed some light on family history, circa WWII.  

        I, like most, find our nation’s victory in WWII to be a powerful legacy.  Our own family members were heroes of the heartland too.  I find Greg’s intrigue with his heritage to be very special. I believe that, somehow, his Grandpa Dick and Uncles Bud and Bob are very pleased that he cares.

       With Greg’s inquiry, I soon called Uncle Bob, to seek his knowledge and reflections of the Maple’s service to their country.  He was eager to help, and for an hour he recalled the events of the 1940’s faster than I could take notes. Three shorter phone calls added a little more insight and clarity.  Reciting, with modest pride and remarkable accuracy, he told his story. I was in awe, captivated by the oral history that was of our very own. Thank you again, Greg, for the spirit that fostered this small study of our family’s past.  It is with hope, that the following record is worthy of the bravery and sacrifices that make these memories dear.

      At 8:00am on December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor: “a date which will live in infamy”.  On December 11 the U.S. congress declared war on Japan.  Germany and Italy, as part of the Tripartite Pact with Japan, effectively were also at war with the USA.  A long and costly war ended in 1945 when Germany surrendered on May 7 (VE Day), and Japan following suit on September 2 aboard the battleship Missouri. With a loss of over 400,000 American lives, our homeland was safe again.

       The Maple children, Richard, Francis, Josephine, Margorie, Robert, and William grew up in Waterman, the typical Midwest village that worked hard, raised their families, and in the 40’s, sent their eligible sons to war.  Dick Maple at age 29 was the first Waterman family man to be called to the service during the war.  He was inducted into the US Army on February 7, 1944.  He was injured during training with Co. A, 292^nd Engineers Combat Division.  He then spent the tenure of his service at Lawson Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. As a Private First Class he received his honorable medical discharge on January 18, 1945.

       Bud Maple at age 25, entered the Army Air Force on February 18, 1943.  He was first assigned small plane training in Tennessee, then on to Atlanta to master the B-26 bomber.  Bud, highest rank 2^nd Lt, was a co-pilot in the 387 Bomb Group, based near Paris, France.  He flew numerous bombing missions, often experiencing heavy flak over enemy territory.  Bud was discharged from the Active Reserves in October, 1945.

       Bob Maple, at age 20, was called from the US Army Reserve to active duty on March 19, 1943.  He served as a Staff Sergeant in the 517^th Combat Regiment and was attached to the 101^st Airborne Division.  He also served in the 2^nd Division under General Gavin, the youngest general in the war and a paratrooper himself.  While participating in five major battle campaigns in France and Belgium, Bob would make 16 jumps.  The most dangerous was in Southern France to divert the German’s attention away from the main Allied invasion at Normandy.   Here, the American troops did not break through the German lines and the 517th Regiment was on the front lines for 93 straight days.   Much of the Band of Brothers story was centered on the defense of Bastogne in the Battle of the Bulge. Bob was attached to the same Division as the “band of brothers.”   In-circled, his group would spend November to February surrounded by enemy troops.   His unit, while bogged down along the Rhine River was loading up for another critical and perilous jump when it was learned that Patton’s Third Army was already in the drop zone.  Their jump was not necessary.

       In another combat assignment, Bob was awarded the Bronze Star for his successful planning and execution of an ambush on a German unit.  With only 6 men, he captured or killed 30 German soldiers.  Sustaining minor injuries, he spent a short time in a first aid station and was awarded the Purple Heart. 

       Soon after, with the German surrender and the US/Allied victory in hand, Bob was given two choices.:  stay on duty in occupied Europe, or to take a 30 day furlough before joining US forces in the Japanese sector of war.  He chose to fight on. While shipboard in route to the US, his unit was informed of the A-Bomb drops that vaporized Hiroshima and Nagasaki, bringing Japan to quick surrender.  This development spared his participation in the invasion of the Japanese mainland that was estimated to suffer over 1,000,000 casualties.  Bob was discharged from the Army in October, 1945.    

       Brothers Bud and Bob, both in the European theatre of war at the same time, would see each other twice.  With a pass in hand, one or the other would hitch a ride to make a rendezvous. Once, they missed each other, inadvertently travelling in opposite directions. Both were involved in special missions, so communication was difficult.  In the shortest of meetings, Bud, with info from a friend in a hospital, made his way to Bob’s station. When he arrived, all the brothers could do was wave at each other as Bob’s unit pulled away in trucks. On another hitch-hiking trip Bob rode with another young man from Waterman (small world!)  Bob also had the fortune to fly with Bud on one of his bombing runs. He sat in the plastic nose bubble where he saw “it all”, including the light flak coming their way.

       So, there you have it, a little bit of written memorabilia, Maple brothers’ style.  Of course there is more, much more.  But, with just a little portion of history in hand, it does give us a small window into our family’s past.  Yes, our family who stood firm and courageous in this epic era of war, were part of “The Greatest Generation”.

“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not the absence of fear.”            -Mark Twain

Submitted – December, 2008

Tom Maple