Walter E. Mainerich
Era: World War II
Military Branch: Army
Walter E. Mainerich Sr. of Chisholm, Minnesota enlisted in the Army on Dec. 10, 1942.
He was a Private First Class with the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division.
He served in England, France, Holland, Belgium and Germany. He took part in the D-Day assault on Normandy in a parachute jump six hours before the initial landings on June 6, 1944.
He also made a combat jump into Holland on Sept. 17, 1944, and saw combat at Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge, when the 101st surrounded by five German divisions for 12 days.
He also was in combat at Alsace-Lorraine, France, on Jan. 20, 1945, and then moved to southern Germany (Berchesgaden) until the German surrender.
He was honorably discharged on Dec. 11, 1945 at Camp McCoy, Wis.
Source: Hometown Heroes: The St. Louis County World War II Project. 183.
