This past Veteran's Day, I posted an album of photos on our Museum Facebook page of our local WWII Veterans. As part of the conversation along with that post was a comment by one of my friends, Modesta Leyba asking me about her Uncle Max Lucero - which reminded me of the display we have of him in the museum and then recently in going through some files in the archives I came across this speech/history given of him by Ted Raban when Max was Man of the Year in 1984.
Enjoy...and thank you Modesta for reminding us of this amazing man and true patriot and hero!
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To
Maximilliano C. Lucero. St. Johns
Kiwanis Club, MAN OF THE YEAR 1984.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is a great privilege for me to pay
tribute and honor to a true American war hero.
Here sitting on the stand today is a man who has a great
story to tell about his experiences as a soldier in World War II and the Korean
conflict.
Maximillian C. Lucero was born in 1910 at Fence Lake, New
Mexico. He spent the first 8 or 9 years
of his life around the Fence Lake helping his sheep herder father. Max also worked with the Garcia Cattle
Operation, getting $7.00 a month. His
responsibility was caring for and working six pack burros. He said he used to cry because the loads were
so heavy for him to place upon the burro’s backs.
He came to Arizona when he was about 9-1/2 years old. He was a crack shot with a rifle because most
of the time his meals depended on his ability as a rifleman. When he was a little older he worked for the
Barth’s in St. Johns and also for the Babbitt Cattle Company. He felt it was time for him to get a 44
pistol as all cowboys should have a pistol.
Max was always small in stature and the pistol was too heavy and
cumbersome so he gave up and was totally dependent on his rifle again. Keep in mind that this man carried a rifle
wherever he went. He was a good enough shot that he could shoot animals on the
run.
In 1940 Max enlisted in the army. Jobs were hard to come by and he needed a
change and a change he got. He went from
Phoenix to Fort Ord, California.
Remember that this is a country boy and had never strayed more than a
hundred or so miles from his home. He
had some to say concerning the city and its hustle and bustle.
He was given 6 months training in civilian clothes because
the country did not have the needed supplies for its soldiers. For 8 months they trained using 22 rifles
because of a lack of arms.
Max was in the 45th Infantry Division made up of
Arizona and New Mexico boys. They had
the thunderbird patch on their shoulders.
They were then sent to Abilene, Texas and from there to Louisiana for
swamp training. Max said at this time a
large group of men his age were called up and told because of this age they
were being discharged. Max was about 30
or 31 years old. So he took his
discharge papers, a model-A pickup he had won in a poker game and two buddies
and headed for home. On December 7,
1941, he arrived in Gallup, New Mexico.
The city was in total darkness.
They saw a candle light flickering in a service station window and asked
the service station attendant what was going on. He was told that the Japanese had bombed
Pearl Harbor and the city was ordered to blackout. He did not believe what he had heard but when
he got to St. Johns, it was confirmed.
He was 8 days in St. Johns when orders came for him to report for active
duty. He reported to Phoenix, from there
to Fort Ord, California, and to Abilene, Texas; a repeat of his former training
only this time more in earnest. He was
assigned to the 90th Infantry division made up of Texas and Oklahoma
boys. He said he trained boys and men
who had never used a rifle; did not even know which end of the rifle the bullet
came out of. He went through the swamps
of Louisiana, chiggers, mosquitos and all; then the desert of California, froze
to death at night and sweltered in the heat of the day. Then to Trento, New Jersey for training in
the cold climate. From there overseas to
England. In England they were involved
in amphibious training. Since Germany
was so intently bombing England, Max’s division along with others were dug in
trenches and bunkers outside of the city.
After 6 days of intense training, his outfit was a part of
the great Normandy Invasion Plan. He was
to be a part of those landing on Omaha Beach.
Today there stands over 9,000 crosses a short distance from that beach
which indicate those who gave their lives during this landing.
Because the tide was out and the landing barges were not
able to get as close as planned, many soldiers had to jump out of their landing
craft in water over their heads. Max was
lucky the water only came to his chin.
Many of the young men drowned because they had heavy field packs on
their backs. Max lost hi rifle and after
several attempts at retrieving it he decided to take one from a fallen comrade
and got into the heat of the battle.
He said the Germans were no farther away than across the
street firing directly at them. He said
it made him sick to his stomach to see all the dead and wounded lying
around. At an instant a bullet hit him
in the helmet, knocking him down. He
grabbed his head with both hands calling for a medic. He felt the blood oozing through his
fingers. The medic frantically examined
him and could find no wound. What he was
feeling with his hands was sweat and tears, not blood; for the bullet had gone
through his helmet knocking him down but not hitting his head.
For 11 days Max was involved in heavy fighting. He and a friend named Langdon and two lieutenants
were selected to knock out an enemy machine gun nest. They were moving very close together,
crouching down very low when one of the group tripped a booby trap. The explosion ripped through Langdon’s throat
and killed both lieutenants. Max was
more fortunate; it temporarily blinded him, broke both ear drums and severely
injured his right leg. He was taken care
of in a makeshift hospital until he could be removed to England. There he stayed in the hospital until his leg
and eyes were healed. He then was
assigned to the famous General Patton’s 3rd Army. Max said Patton was everything everyone said
he was and some more too. They were
fighting out of Czechoslovakia toward Berlin.
While here, Max had many close calls.
As they were rooting the enemy out of the cities building by building,
Max came face to face with a big German soldier. He didn’t have time to shoulder his rifle and
fire so he raised it to strike the enemy.
As he did, the rifle was seized by the enemy and a struggle ensued. The enemy being larger than Max, over-powered
him and threw him to the ground ripping max’s right thumb from its socket. He would have succeeded in killing Max if one
of Max’s comrades had not saved his life.
At one stage of the campaign three enemy tanks had to be
disposed of in order for Max’s outfit to advance, so Max and a squad of men
were given the assignment. The bazooka
man in the squad had not had any experience in combat so Max grabbed the
bazooka, got within range, shouldered the weapon and fired a direct hit. Excitedly he reloaded and prematurely fired
at the second one just crippling its fire power. AT this time the third was heading straight
for Max. Frantically he was trying to
reload in time to fire, but before he could, the tank was on top of him. With a great lunge, Max was successful in
getting out of the track’s path but the bazooka was quickly crushed. He quickly returned to his outfit.
Another incident in street to street fighting nearly cost
Max his life again as he was rounding a corner, an enemy soldier thrust his
pistol in Max’s left light and fired.
Max said he learned something that day: a pistol in contact with the
muscle of the leg when fired will not completely penetrate the leg. He said the slug went deep into the muscle
and lodged in the thigh bone, but, said Max, the pain was not so severe as when
taking out the slug.
Max was awarded 16 medals in all but among these were some
special ones. General Patton himself
pinned them on Max’s chest. Just to name
a few: the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and
the Purple Heart.
After the war in Europe was over, Max volunteered to go
fight Japan. He was flown to Spanish Morocco
and was waiting to be flown to the Pacific Campaign when word was received that
the bombs had been dropped and Japan had surrendered. Max came home and worked for some cattle
outfits for a while, and then the war in Korea broke out. He volunteered and shortly thereafter he
found himself in action in Korea. He was
assigned a platoon of Puerto Ricans because he could speak Spanish. He was stationed in Korea for 2 years seeing
action for over one year of that time.
He was wounded twice in action there; once by mortar fire and the other
by shrapnel. Of the 16 medals Max
received, five were received in Korea.
Max was an expert in the following areas:
Rifle, Pistol, Rifle Grenade Launcher, Bazookas and
others.
He knew personally General Patton, General MacArthur and
Clark. He served under men such as
Eisenhower and Ridgeway.
When the Vietnam conflict broke out Max tried to
volunteer. The officer took a look at
him and his record and told him he had done his part….to go home.
When asked if considered himself to be a brave man for being
decorated so many times for bravery he said modestly, “Hell no, I was scared
all the time.”
When asked about his life he said it was a great experience
but said he, “I hope and pray we never have a war here. When I saw the suffering on the faces of
little children and the people, and the death and destruction with a little arm
here or a leg there, I pray to God that we never have to go through it again.”
Now ladies and gentlemen, I submit to you, it is because of
brave men like Maximillian Lucero that we are able to celebrate the peace and
freedom we have today.
On behalf of the St. Johns Kiwanis Club, I would like to
present to Max a token of our appreciation for the hero he is.
To Maximilliano C. Lucero.
St. Johns Kiwanis Club, MAN OF THE YEAR 1984.
(Speech by Ted Raban of St. Johns, Arizona)
