To Maximilliano C. Lucero. St. Johns Kiwanis Club, MAN OF THE YEAR 1984.

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 45^th 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 90^th 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 3^rd 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)