U.S. NAVY

Byron Meader Jr.

Byron Meader Jr., 85, grew up in West Ellsworth, graduated from Ellsworth High School in 1937 and attended Washington State Normal School, a predecessor of the University of Maine at Machias.

He enlisted in the Army in December 1942, was assigned to the 3461st automotive ordnance company at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., and became company clerk.

Six weeks later, his unit departed for Guadalcanal, arriving in March 1943.

“Our position in Guadalcanal was near the beach and adjacent to Henderson airfield, both prime targets for enemy bombers, so we spent many sleepless nights,” he recalled.

“My brother, 1st Lt. Everett L. Meader, arrived in Guadalcanal August 1943 with an anti-aircraft unit. We visited weekly and were able to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas together before he shipped out for Bougainville in February 1944. That was the year ‘White Christmas’ was popular and ever since it has a nostalgic ring.”

In March 1944, he passed the examination for aviation cadet and flew back to the States for his new assignment at Keesler Field, Biloxi, Miss.

“Keesler Field was a great disappointment. The Army Air Corps was overloaded with cadets, therefore everyone from the Army ground forces was assigned to an infantry unit.”

Transferred to the 69th Infantry Division stationed at Camp Shelby, Miss., he was assigned to an anti-tank platoon and, after several months of training, was promoted to platoon sergeant and shipped out to Winchester, England, in November 1944.

“Our division entered combat January 1945, still not full strength, near the Siegfreid Line and fought our way to the Rhine River, six miles above the Remagen Bridge. We participated in battles for Frankfort, Kassel and Liepzieg, Germany,” he recalled.

His battalion was moving across Germany at a rapid pace. In early April 1945 while on a reconnaissance mission shortly after daybreak, he and his driver drove through a small German village with not a soul in sight. On the western approach to the village was an unmanned German anti-tank cannon. Forty-five minutes later, after they had completed their mission and returned through the village, the anti-tank gun was still unmanned. This time there were white sheets of surrender hanging from all the windows.

“I figured we captured the town, however, I never stopped to find out the name.

“Our mission in approaching settled cities or towns was to destroy any towers, buildings or church belfries that could be used as forward observation points by the enemy. During the capture of Leipzig, many German SS Storm Troopers retreated to the League of Nations Monument, which was built like a fortress and artillery fire could not penetrate the thick walls. Our mission was to direct fire from our cannons into the openings of the monument to demoralize the enemy. Mission accomplished.”

After Leipzig, they fought their way to the Elbe River where their division met up with the Russians near a small village called Torgau. The date was April 25, 1945.

“I was fortunate to be present on April 27 when the generals and their staffs from the Russian and American armies met in greetings.”

He returned to the States in December and was discharged as a platoon sergeant Dec. 30, 1945.

He returned to college on the GI Bill, earning his bachelor’s degree in 1950 and a master’s in education in 1952 from the University of Maine at Orono. He taught school for six years at Corrina, Searsport and Hampden.

“Meanwhile the Berlin Wall was built and I thought we could get into another conflict. Therefore I joined the Belfast Unit of the Maine National Guard.”

Meader married Eleanor Ramsdell and fathered three daughters: Peggy Davison, who lives in Ellsworth with husband Ed (they own Mainly Vinyl); Judy Caspersen of Pensacola, Fla., and Debby and husband Paul Cloutier of Whitefield. He has five grandchildren and two great grandchildren. His first marriage ended in divorce in 1959. 

After five years at the Maine National Guard Service, he was called to active duty assigned to the New York State Selective Service System where he eventually became operations office and deputy director.

In 1976, he was appointed acting state director of Selective Service for the state, retiring with the rank of colonel Sept. 30, 1976.

He resided in Ellsworth from 1976 to 1983 where he served three years on the Planning Board. Due to health reasons, he moved to Sun City, Ariz., in 1983 where Molly, his second wife, died in 1990.

He married Prudence in 1992. They live in Sun City and recently purchased a summer home in Patten, Maine, “where we enjoy hunting and fishing and being Mainers again.”

In the summer of 1998 he and Prudence toured the WWII battlefields of Luxembourg and Rhineland as well as the Normandy Beaches and the museums.

“We were pleased with people we met expressing their appreciation that American soldiers liberated their countries and thereby lifted the yoke of Hitlerism.”