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| Sgt. Loren Mayer served in the 9th Armored Division during the Battle of the Bulge. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/38086148/loren-j-mayer https://www.pinterest.com/pin/538672805412548401/ |
Loren J. Mayer never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on April 20, 1919 in Mitchell, Iowa. His parents Arthur and Frances were also both born in Iowa. His father worked as a farmer. Loren had an older brother and sister and a younger sister and two younger brothers. By 1940 Loren had completed eight years of schooling and worked as a farm laborer while living with his family.
He was drafted into the army on August 13, 1941. He became a Tec 4 tank driver in the 2nd Tank Battalion, 9th Armored Division.
The 9th Armored's first assignment was Operation Fortitude, the allies' successful efforts to trick the Germans into thinking they would land at Pas-de-Calais. It went to France in September 1944. By October it has been assigned a quite sector of the front-lines - the Luxembourg-German frontier in the Ardennes Forest.
With no real prior combat experience, the 9th Armored took on the brunt of the surprise German offensive on December 16 with units stationed in St. Vith, Echternach, and Bastogne. Sgt. Mayer went missing in action on December 17, 1944. His family did not know his status until late January 1945 when they heard he was missing. It would not be until late May that they learned that he had been killed on December 17.
His grave is at Visitation Catholic Cemetery in Stacyville, Iowa.
Last year on this date I profiled Medal of Honor hero Arlo Olson, 3rd Infantry Division. You can read about Arlo here.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
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