In 1971, Veterans Day was moved to the fourth Monday in October under the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. This act was designed to create consistent three-day weekends for federal employees and the public while aiming to reduce mid-week business disruptions. However, it caused widespread confusion and pushback as far as Veterans Day was concerned. In 1975, President Gerald Ford signed a law returning Veterans Day to its traditional date of November 11 to preserve its historical significance. Ford’s law became effective in 1978.
This week we honor Kearny County veteran Maurice Edgar Hagler who was born July 11, 1925 at Deerfield. He attended schools there and was a member of the class of 1943. That same year, Hagler enlisted in the Army Air Corps at Lakin on Armistice Day and was inducted at Leavenworth, Kansas on November 16. He took his basic training at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri from December of ’43 to March of ’44. From there, he was sent to Kingman, Arizona to gunnery school. Here he graduated and received his wings on Jun 18, 1944.
Hagler was next stationed at Lincoln, Nebraska for a short time. After a 10-day furlough which he spent with his parents and friends near Deerfield, Hagler was sent to Sioux City, Iowa. He was flown overseas to serve in the European Theatre on the B-17 Flying Fortress known as “Quien Sabe” in September of 1944. Hagler’s duties as a ball turret gunner put him in one of the most dangerous and exposed roles of the entire crew.
On November 2, 1944, the 8th Air Force sent multiple Flying Fortress four-engine heavy bombers, escorted by P-51 Mustang and P-38 Lightning fighters from their bases in England over 500 miles to attack Leuna Chemical Works and Oil Refinery, a three-square-mile facility a few miles from Merseberg, Germany. This target was defended by more flak batteries and Luftwaffe fighters than any target in Germany, and according to the U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey, “aircrews viewed a mission to Leuna as the most dangerous and difficult assignment of the air war.” Air and Space Forces Magazine reported that nearly 400 American airmen did not return from the historic November 2, 1944 air raid. Hagler was one of those men.
After dropping their bombs and still over the target area, Hagler and crew were attacked by two German FW 190s. Their damaged aircraft crashed in the vicinity of Klosterholte, near Bawinkle, Germany. Hagler was at first listed as Missing in Action, but in March 1945, word was received that Hagler had been killed instantly when the plane was shot down. The pilot, wounded at the time, had recovered and was able to write Hagler’s parents and tell them of the crash. Three other crew members also perished while five survived and were taken as Prisoners of War.
Just previous to that fatal day, Sergeant Maurice E. Hagler had been awarded the Air Medal for meritorious achievement while participating in the Eighth Air Force missions which attacked vital German industrial targets and enemy-held installations. The official citation accompanying the award of the Air Medal commented on Hagler’s “courage, coolness, and skill” which he displayed on all occasions. Hagler was also bestowed with the Purple Heart, European-African-Middle Eastern Theatre Ribbon, World War II Victory Medal, American Campaign Medal, Army Presidential Unit Citation, and Army Good Conduct Medal.
Services for Maurice Hagler were held in the Deerfield High School auditorium in late April 1945 with a large crowd in attendance. At the time, a picture of the Statue of Liberty entitled “Liberty Enlightening the World” was dedicated and hung in the hall of the Deerfield High School in memory of Hagler and five other former Deerfield residents killed in action during the second world war: Sgt. Harrison Vern McAfee, Sgt. Oscar Wayne McAfee, Cpl. Clifford Rector, Pfc. James Stebens and AMM3 Tony Gonzalez.
SOURCES: U.S. Dept. of Veteran Affairs; Air and Space Forces Magazine; honorstates.org; History.com; Ancestry.com; b17flyingfortress.de; History of Kearny County Vols. I & II; Kearny County Service Record World War I & II; and Lakin Independent archives.