Pvt. Albert Joseph Maczulaitis in Melrose Park, Illinois, on April 15, 1925, to Joseph Maczulaitis and Vincenta Samarakas-Maczulaitis, and had a brother. His family resided at 1515 North 16th Avenue, Melrose Park, Illinois, and graduated from Proviso Township High School in 1943. While he was in high school, on April 15, 1943, he registered with Selective Service and named his mother as his contact person.
Knowing he would be drafted into the army, he enlisted on June 28, 1943. He was issued the serial number 36 753 628. It is known that he trained at Camp Callan, California, and Camp Bowie, Texas. He was assigned to Company B, 83rd Armor Regiment, 3rd Armor Division. It appears her went overseas with the battalion in September 1943 and was stationed in Somerset, England until June 24, 1944, when it was sent to Normandy, France. The entire battalion went into combat on July 9th when it joined in the Battle of St. Lo which lasted to the 19th. During this fight the 3rd suffered heavy casualties.
During the breakout from Normandy, it fought in multiple engagements and members of the 3rd’s engineers figured out a way to breakthrough the hedgerows using I-beams attached to the front of the tanks and allowing them to cut through the bushes freeing them from the roads. The tanks hit the hedgerows at high speed, bursting through them without exposing the vulnerable underbellies to German fire. The 3rds’s breakout came at Marigny alongside the 1st Infantry Division and headed south to Mayenne.
Next, the 3rd helped close the Argentan-Falaise Pocket cutting off the German Seventh Army. Six days later, the outfit had gone through Courville and Chartres and was approaching the banks of the Seine River. On the night of August 25, 1944, the division began the crossing of the Seine; and then moved across France. It reached the Belgian border September 2, 1944.
On its drive north, the division liberated Meaux, Soissons, Laon, Marle, Mons, Charleroi, Namur and Liège. It also cut off 40,000 Wehrmacht troops at Mons and captured 8,000 prisoners. It was believed that the division was the first field unit to fire on targets inside Germany. It then passed the German border and took part in the Battle of Hürtgen. Afterwards, it breached the Siegfried Line. From September 12th to October 24th, the 3rd fought to take the German city of Aachen, which was the first German city captured by the Allies. When the Battle of the Bulge started, the division, which had penetrated far into northern Germany, turned around and headed south to attack the Germans and helping to eliminate the bulge. It then was given a month of rest and relaxation.
When it returned to action on February 26th, the division quickly crosse the Roer River and captured several towns. It then cross the Eft River and broke through to the Rhine and captured Cologne on the 7th. The division moved in a sweeping motion and captured Paderhorn as it was attempting to trap German troops in the Ruhr Pocket. Next, it crossed the Saale River and quickly moved toward the Elbe River.
It was at this time the division ran int the Dora-Mittelbau Concentration Camp on April 11th. It reported to the Allied headquarters that it had discovered the concentration camp near the town of Nordhausen. With the 194th Infantry Division, the 3rd began transporting the former concentration camp prisoners to local hospitals.
It was on April 15, 1945, that Albert was killed when he was hit by fire from a German sniper in his chest and head. It was his 20th birthday. Two days later on the 17th, he was buried in Lot D, Row 5, Grave 86, in the United States Military Cemetery #1, Breuna, Germany. His mother was sent a telegram from the War Department around May 5, 1945.
MRS VINCENDA MACZULAITIS 1218 NORTH 37TH AVENUE MELROSE PARK IL
THE SECRETARY OF WAR HIS DEEPEST REGRET THAT YOUR SON PRIVATE ALBERT J MACZULAITIS WAS KILLED IN ACTION ON FIFTEEN OF APRIL IN GERMANY LETTER FOLLOWS
ULIO THE ADJUTANT GENERAL
It is not known when his mother received the confirmation letter of Albert’s death. After the war, the American Graves Registration Service began the process of recovering the dead and Albert’s remains were exhumed from the USMC #1, Bruena, Germany, and he was reburied, July 17, 1945, in the USMC #1, Margraten, Holland. His mother received the following letter.
12 November 1946
Mrs. Vincenda Maczulaitis
1218 North 37 Avenue
Melrose Park, Illinois
Dear Mrs. Maczulaitis:
The War Department is most desirous that you be furnished information regarding the burial location of your son, the late Private Albert J. Maczulaitis, A.S.N. 36 753 628.
The records of this office disclose that his remains are interred in the U. S. Military Cemetery, Margraten, Holland, plot NN, row 5, grave 115. You may be assured that the identification and interment have been accomplished with dignity and solemnity.
This cemetery is located seventeen miles north of St. Lo, France, and is under the constant care and supervision of the United States military personnel.
The War Department has now been authorized to comply, at Government expense, with the feasible wishes of the next of kin regarding final interment, here or abroad, of the remains of your loved one. At a later date, this office will, without any action on your part, provide the next of kin with full information and solicit his detailed desires.
Please accept my sincere sympathy in your great loss.
Sincerely yours,
(signed)
T. B. LARKIN
Major General
The Quartermaster General
The next letter, dated December 3, 1947, told his mother her options for Albert’s final burial. She was asked to fill-out and return an enclosed form indicating where she wanted him buried. The form was received by the OQMG on December 27, 1947, indicating that his mother wanted Albert returned to Illinois for burial.
Albert’s remains were exhumed and sent by train to Antwerp Belgium. His remains were casketed and then placed on the USAT Carroll Victory on October 29, 1948. The ship sailed the same day and arrived in the New York Port of Embarkation on November 16, 1948. The next day his casket was sent by train, with a military escort, to the Quartermaster Corps Distribution Center #8, Chicago, and arrived on November 19, 1948, and held there. In a military hearse, his casket was taken to the Bormann Funeral Home, Melrose Park, Illinois, on December 13, 1948. He was buried in Mount Carmel Catholic Cemetery, Hillside, Illinois.
