By John Montesano
The Fox Valley Veterans Breakfast Club has named Maurie Misner the November 2021 Herschel Luckinbill Veteran of the Month.
Maurie was born in Blythe, Calif. March 28, 1944. Later in the year, Maurie’s mom brought him to Aurora. He was graduated from East Aurora High School in 1962. Drafted into the Army May 11, 1966, he was trained at Ft. Leonard Wood, Mo., and Ft. Polk, Tigerland, La.. By September 1966, Maurie was in Vietnam with the 1st Cavalry, 2nd Brigade/8th Regiment at An Khe base camp. The 1st Cavalry Division was the Army’s first Airmobile Division. Its prime mission was to take the war to the enemy. The ground combat troops were deployed swiftly without regard for the terrain. The Bell UH-1 Iroquois, nicknamed “Huey” was used for troop and supply transport, MedEvac and aerial fire support.
Maurie’s unit worked in An Khe base camp, LZ English, LZ Hammond, and numerous places without names into which they were dropped. It was 24/7 trying to stay alive and very scary. When you would go out, it would be for six to 10 days. Often the enemy would be around you or up in trees. It was extremely dark at night and visibility was limited during the day in the jungle. When asked how he handled the fear, Maurie responded:
“When the rounds start going off, survival mode kicked in and you did what you did to stay alive. In some of the jungle fire fights, there was so much lead flying around, in the end, the jungle was only this high (signifying three-to-four feet) from all the crossfire. It chopped down trees and everything.” In April 1967, while in the rear, recovering from a medical condition, An Khe came under attack. Incoming mortar and artillery from above and rockets through the camp seemed to fill every space. It was the most scared Maurie ever had been. “It was like running through a thunderstorm and trying not to get wet.” He swore he was going to die.
Similar to many Vietnam veterans, he was/is especially offended by the “baby killers” reference. “If some of these people who were running their mouths really knew what was going on, would they be a baby killer too? What are you supposed to do when a 10-year-old is coming at your bunker with grenades to kill you and your comrades? Are they not the enemy, regardless of age? It is either you or them. You should have never let your kid to come out and play tonight.” Maurie makes no excuses for his disdain, then and now, for Vietnam and the people in it.
In July 1967, he was sent to Ft. Bragg, N.C. with the 82nd Airborne Division.
Maurie received an honorable discharge 05 May 1968 and came home to Aurora. He was awarded: the Infantry Combat Badge, Presidential Unit Citation, and Vietnam Service Medal. He suffers physically from his exposure to Agent Orange.
Maurie shared that it was not only the public that shunned and taunted the service members returning from Vietnam. It was the various service organizations which refused to accept or welcome them, claiming that they were not in a real war but just a police action.
Maurie’s working career reflects his skills as a self-taught auto mechanic: 11 years for Kornak Olds and 7 years for Westphal Chevrolet, both in Aurora. He started his own business, M and M Service and after 22 years retired in 2008. He sold the business to help defray the expenses of his second wife, Pat’s cancer from which she passed in 2007.
Maurie was married to Pat for 35 years. They had three children, seven grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.
Maurie lives in Montgomery with Terri, to whom he has been happily married since 10 June 2007.