☆～ VETERAN, WORLD WAR II, GLIDER PILOT ～☆
Biography stories and obituary lovingly shared by daughter, Diane Mares Porter. I hope you enjoy reading about my father's stories of heroism during World War II. I am unapologetically and undeniably proud of him!
------------------------------------------------
Following story appeared in Fremont Tribune, Monday, March 24, 1986
"Glider Pilot's Mission Chancy"
More than one million Americans and British troops massed along the Rhine River, ready to cross into Wesel, Germany. The Nazis had ten divisions and an estimated 180 tanks and self-propelled artillery within a 20-mile radius of the largest area.
The Germans had taken a heavy toll as the last of the 572 American gliders in the first groups either landed or crashed in the landing zone. A total of 140 of the 295 tow planes pulling gliders on double row were hit and 12 tow planes crashed. A large number of American gliders landed on target. Fremont, Nebraska resident, Emil Mares, was one of the glider pilots that survived.
Today mark's the 41st anniversary of Operation Varsity -- the largest single-day airborne operation of World War II. During the campaign, nearly 3,000 aircraft flew across the Rhine River into Wesel, Germany. The mission involved 2,937 aircraft, 1,346 of them were gliders.
During Operation Varsity, gliders brought in 3,492 troops, 202 jeeps, 94 trailers, and a great deal of ammunition and artillery.
Gliders were responsible for flying behind enemy lines and dropping supplies, weapons, ammunition and vehicles. They also flew spies in and out of enemy territory.
-- All this in planes without engines. --
Once a pilot dropped his load, he became a part of the infantry until he was released by the officer in charge of the command post.
Mares, now 73, joined the Air Force at age 29, "I always wanted to fly," he said.
The Fairbury, Nebraska native already had a pilot's license and went through military training and became a flight officer. He was selected to be trained as a glider pilot.
Mares flew in six major Allied invasions, landing behind enemy lines in France, Belgium, and Holland. His experiences as a glider pilot were frightening to say the least.
"I was scared -- we were all scared, " Mares said. "But we all stuck together. The main theme was to surprise the enemy and we did a good job."
The American CG-4A 15-place glider had an 83 foot wing span and was constructed of tubular steel covered by fabric, a plywood floor and payload of 3,750 pounds. The gliders and their pilots were considered expendable, Mares said. "About 65 percent of the gliders were wiped out on each mission," he said, "We were all expendable."
There were only 5,000 American glider pilots, all of them volunteers. Only three of the 105 pilots in Mares' squadron survived the war. Mares was wounded three times and considers himself one of the lucky ones. "The good Lord was with me," he said.
The pilots were based in England. They flew 7 days a week and received rest leave after every seven combat missions. But Mares remembers very few good times. "The only good time was when the war ended," he said.
Mares was flying over the Black Forest when he heard a radio announcement of the war's end. "People on the ground must not have heard it because they were still shooting at us," Mares said with a laugh. Mares said he remembers flying over France and seeing parades and celebrations in the streets.
The American military glider program was discontinued in 1954. Glider were replaced by helicopters. Mares retired in 1972, after six years of active duty and 24 years in the active Air Force Reserves.
He received multiple ribbons and medals, including the Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters and the Purple Heart with two oak leaf clusters, and the European-African-Middle Eastern Theater ribbon, with the Bronze Arrowhead and seven bronze Battle Stars.
He was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for being with the First Squadron piloting English Glider Aircraft into Normandy at night, D-minus one, night before D-Day, and the Presidential Unit Citation for the Operation Market-Garden invasion in Holland. He also received two medals from the French Government, a medal for participation in the Liberation of France, and a medal for the Liberation of Normandy.
While overseas flying C-G4A and Horsa gliders, and C-47's during the war, Mares was assigned to the 9th Air Force, 437th Troop Carrier Group of Southern England, France and Germany, with which he completed 23 combat missions from the UK, including 9 Airborne landings, 9 glider pilot-navigator sorties and 5 sorties as a C-47 co-pilot, then later being assigned to the First Allied Airborne Army with which he piloted gliders making 22 more combat missions in the various Airborne drops, deep behind Enemy Lines and deep in Enemy occupied territories.
During operations, Mares was assigned to the 9th Air Force of Southern England, and to the 17th, 82nd, and 101st Airborne Divisions for the various campaign's which covered Northern Africa, Corsica, France, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, Germany, and Czechoslovakia.
He also held a certified airplane engine mechanics rating, certificate #184227, issued by C. A. A.
------------------------------------------------
Following story appeared in Fremont Tribune, on September 30, 1991
"Former U. S. Pilot and Frenchman share World War II Memories"
It was midnight on June 5, 1944, when a frightened Nebraska man piloted a glider behind enemy lines.
Emil Mares didn't know it then, but he was making history, Mares was part of the D-Day invasion of Normandy, France.
Towed by a C-47 airplane, the huge glider piloted by Mares, carried 37 combat men, a 37mm artillery gun, a Jeep, and a trailer load of ammunition. The Fremont man was to land the glider in a field near the village of St. Mere Eglise, France. But when Mares reached the drop zone, he found a field filled with cattle. To land the glider there would mean disaster. The aircraft would tip over, killing everyone aboard.
Instead, Mares steered his glider toward the end of the field. The glider's wings were severed as the aircraft crashed in between two trees. None of the infantrymen were hurt, but Mares' right arm and leg were broken, as were some ribs. His co-pilot suffered chest injuries. Following orders, the combat men left Mares and his co-pilot behind and continued their mission.
The two Americans later were rescued from that spot and it would be many years before Mares -- with the help of a Frenchman -- would return to the crash site. That Frenchman, Henry Levaufre, came to Fremont recently to visit Mares and shares World War II memories.
Shortly after the crash, a Polish woman found Mares and his co-pilot. The woman, who worked on a farm nearby, wrapped baling wire around Mares' broken limbs to stabilize them. She then hid both men under a manure pile on the farm. Mares said she worked for several hours with a shovel digging out a hollow spot where she would place wooden planks around to keep it from collapsing on the men. She placed them under the manure pile with blankets to keep them warm, and then covered them back up, leaving small air gaps so they could survive. Her plan was clever, Mares said. German soldiers, traveling through the area, would never think to look there.
A couple days later, the woman told an American patrol about the wounded men. Mares and his co-pilot were taken to Utah Beach and then placed aboard a hospital ship bound for England.
With casts on his arm and leg, his 4 ribs almost mended, Mares was flying gliders and cargo planes eight weeks after his ordeal. He would fly many other missions before returning to the United States in July of 1945.
More than 30 years later, Mares learned about Levaufre, who lived in the Normandy area. Levaufre, grateful for the Allies' liberation of France, had helped many Americans find foxholes and trenches from which they fought years earlier.
Mares wrote to Levaufre to arrange a meeting in France. Using Mares' photographs and Levaufre's maps, the men found the very spot where the American had crashed his glider. The trees were large, but still there.
"We pulled the branches back and there were marks on the trunks of the trees where the glider's wings had skinned them up," Mares said. "After that, we didn't say too much. It was very emotional."
That was the beginning of a long friendship between the two men. Now, they exchange war information.
Levaufre, who was 13 when the Allies invaded Normandy, began his research in the early 1960's. He spent weekends in the war-scarred fields, mapping out the locations of foxholes and tank trenches. The process took years.
Eventually, Henri Levaufre learned that the 90th Infantry Division had liberated his hometown of Periers. He wrote to the 90th Infantry Division Association secretary, asking if veterans would contact him. He was flooded with letters. The first two Americans to visit Levaufre came in 1969. Since then, he has helped many Americans, including Mares, who was in the 9th Air Force. Levaufre estimates about 1,400 veterans and their loved ones have gathered around the dining room table, to share their stories of the war.
Levaufre's eyes mist with tears as he tells about one man, Tom, who came to France in 1987. Excited about his visit, Tom promised to return and bring his family.
He never returned. Tom died of a heart attack in 1988. Two years after Tom's visit, Levaufre stood on the shores of Utah Beach with the American's family, Levaufre carried out Tom's final wish, scattering the man's ashes in the waters off of Utah Beach.
Levaufre admits that helping veterans can be exhausting. Still, Levaufre said he finds working with Americans very satisfying.
He and Mares have an especially close bond. "We're just like brothers," Mares said. "We've had common experiences. We read each other pretty well."
---------------------------------------------
The following obituary was published in the Fremont Tribune, on Friday, August 6, 1999
Lt. Col. Emil H. Mares
Lt. Col. Emil H. Mares, U.S Air Force Retired, 87, a resident of Fremont, Nebraska, died Wednesday, August 4, 1999, at Clarkson Hospital in Omaha, Nebraska.
He was born July 12, 1912, in Wilber, Nebraska. He graduated from high school in Western, Nebraska and then graduated from Fairbury Junior College. He enlisted in the United States Air Force on July 12, 1942, and served until retiring on July 12, 1972. During World War II, he served with the 9th Air Force as a Glider Pilot and also as a Command Pilot. He also frequently flew C-47's, on missions delivering supplies behind enemy lines.
Emil had received numerous commendation medals during World War II, including two from the French government for the liberation of Normandy and participation in the liberation of France. Later, as an active reservist, he served as a Liaison Officer for the Air Force Academy. Following active military duty, Emil worked for the Nebraska Job Service in Fairbury, Beatrice, and Fremont, Nebraska.
Emil was an active community volunteer. He was a chairman for many years of the Dodge County Red Cross Bloodmobile. He had been the tax coordinator for the American Association of Retired Persons Tax Service, and was involved with Meals on Wheels program. He also was a life long numismatist.
Emil was a Past Commander of the Fremont Civil Air Patrol and a member and Past President of the Fremont Kiwanis Club. He was a member of the American Legion Post 20, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 854, Disabled American Veteran's Chapter 18, and the Eagles Club in Beatrice, Nebraska.
He married Clarabelle "Claire" M. Talbott, on June 15, 1947, in Belleville, Kansas.
Survivors include his wife, Claire; daughter, Diane (Mrs. Robert) Porter of Henderson, Nevada; a brother, Victor (and wife, Lillian) Mares of Fairbury, Nebraska; and a sister, Helen (Mrs. Milo) Brchan, of Lincoln, Nebraska.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Joseph A. and Agnes Mares, and a brother Adolph A. Mares who was KIA during World War II.
A memorial service will be at 10:30 a.am. Saturday at Ludvigsen Mortuary Chapel in Fremont, Nebraska. The Rev. Stephen Brownlee will officiate. The United States Flag will be presented by the Fremont Honor Guard of the American Legion Post 20 and the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 854. There is no public visitation. Memorials are suggested to the Silent Wings Museum in Terrell, Texas (Glider Pilot Museum) and the Dodge County Historical Society.
Private burial will be at Lincoln Memorial Park Cemetery in Lincoln, Nebraska, at a later date.
☆～ VETERAN, WORLD WAR II, GLIDER PILOT ～☆
Biography stories and obituary lovingly shared by daughter, Diane Mares Porter. I hope you enjoy reading about my father's stories of heroism during World War II. I am unapologetically and undeniably proud of him!
------------------------------------------------
Following story appeared in Fremont Tribune, Monday, March 24, 1986
"Glider Pilot's Mission Chancy"
More than one million Americans and British troops massed along the Rhine River, ready to cross into Wesel, Germany. The Nazis had ten divisions and an estimated 180 tanks and self-propelled artillery within a 20-mile radius of the largest area.
The Germans had taken a heavy toll as the last of the 572 American gliders in the first groups either landed or crashed in the landing zone. A total of 140 of the 295 tow planes pulling gliders on double row were hit and 12 tow planes crashed. A large number of American gliders landed on target. Fremont, Nebraska resident, Emil Mares, was one of the glider pilots that survived.
Today mark's the 41st anniversary of Operation Varsity -- the largest single-day airborne operation of World War II. During the campaign, nearly 3,000 aircraft flew across the Rhine River into Wesel, Germany. The mission involved 2,937 aircraft, 1,346 of them were gliders.
During Operation Varsity, gliders brought in 3,492 troops, 202 jeeps, 94 trailers, and a great deal of ammunition and artillery.
Gliders were responsible for flying behind enemy lines and dropping supplies, weapons, ammunition and vehicles. They also flew spies in and out of enemy territory.
-- All this in planes without engines. --
Once a pilot dropped his load, he became a part of the infantry until he was released by the officer in charge of the command post.
Mares, now 73, joined the Air Force at age 29, "I always wanted to fly," he said.
The Fairbury, Nebraska native already had a pilot's license and went through military training and became a flight officer. He was selected to be trained as a glider pilot.
Mares flew in six major Allied invasions, landing behind enemy lines in France, Belgium, and Holland. His experiences as a glider pilot were frightening to say the least.
"I was scared -- we were all scared, " Mares said. "But we all stuck together. The main theme was to surprise the enemy and we did a good job."
The American CG-4A 15-place glider had an 83 foot wing span and was constructed of tubular steel covered by fabric, a plywood floor and payload of 3,750 pounds. The gliders and their pilots were considered expendable, Mares said. "About 65 percent of the gliders were wiped out on each mission," he said, "We were all expendable."
There were only 5,000 American glider pilots, all of them volunteers. Only three of the 105 pilots in Mares' squadron survived the war. Mares was wounded three times and considers himself one of the lucky ones. "The good Lord was with me," he said.
The pilots were based in England. They flew 7 days a week and received rest leave after every seven combat missions. But Mares remembers very few good times. "The only good time was when the war ended," he said.
Mares was flying over the Black Forest when he heard a radio announcement of the war's end. "People on the ground must not have heard it because they were still shooting at us," Mares said with a laugh. Mares said he remembers flying over France and seeing parades and celebrations in the streets.
The American military glider program was discontinued in 1954. Glider were replaced by helicopters. Mares retired in 1972, after six years of active duty and 24 years in the active Air Force Reserves.
He received multiple ribbons and medals, including the Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters and the Purple Heart with two oak leaf clusters, and the European-African-Middle Eastern Theater ribbon, with the Bronze Arrowhead and seven bronze Battle Stars.
He was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for being with the First Squadron piloting English Glider Aircraft into Normandy at night, D-minus one, night before D-Day, and the Presidential Unit Citation for the Operation Market-Garden invasion in Holland. He also received two medals from the French Government, a medal for participation in the Liberation of France, and a medal for the Liberation of Normandy.
While overseas flying C-G4A and Horsa gliders, and C-47's during the war, Mares was assigned to the 9th Air Force, 437th Troop Carrier Group of Southern England, France and Germany, with which he completed 23 combat missions from the UK, including 9 Airborne landings, 9 glider pilot-navigator sorties and 5 sorties as a C-47 co-pilot, then later being assigned to the First Allied Airborne Army with which he piloted gliders making 22 more combat missions in the various Airborne drops, deep behind Enemy Lines and deep in Enemy occupied territories.
During operations, Mares was assigned to the 9th Air Force of Southern England, and to the 17th, 82nd, and 101st Airborne Divisions for the various campaign's which covered Northern Africa, Corsica, France, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, Germany, and Czechoslovakia.
He also held a certified airplane engine mechanics rating, certificate #184227, issued by C. A. A.
------------------------------------------------
Following story appeared in Fremont Tribune, on September 30, 1991
"Former U. S. Pilot and Frenchman share World War II Memories"
It was midnight on June 5, 1944, when a frightened Nebraska man piloted a glider behind enemy lines.
Emil Mares didn't know it then, but he was making history, Mares was part of the D-Day invasion of Normandy, France.
Towed by a C-47 airplane, the huge glider piloted by Mares, carried 37 combat men, a 37mm artillery gun, a Jeep, and a trailer load of ammunition. The Fremont man was to land the glider in a field near the village of St. Mere Eglise, France. But when Mares reached the drop zone, he found a field filled with cattle. To land the glider there would mean disaster. The aircraft would tip over, killing everyone aboard.
Instead, Mares steered his glider toward the end of the field. The glider's wings were severed as the aircraft crashed in between two trees. None of the infantrymen were hurt, but Mares' right arm and leg were broken, as were some ribs. His co-pilot suffered chest injuries. Following orders, the combat men left Mares and his co-pilot behind and continued their mission.
The two Americans later were rescued from that spot and it would be many years before Mares -- with the help of a Frenchman -- would return to the crash site. That Frenchman, Henry Levaufre, came to Fremont recently to visit Mares and shares World War II memories.
Shortly after the crash, a Polish woman found Mares and his co-pilot. The woman, who worked on a farm nearby, wrapped baling wire around Mares' broken limbs to stabilize them. She then hid both men under a manure pile on the farm. Mares said she worked for several hours with a shovel digging out a hollow spot where she would place wooden planks around to keep it from collapsing on the men. She placed them under the manure pile with blankets to keep them warm, and then covered them back up, leaving small air gaps so they could survive. Her plan was clever, Mares said. German soldiers, traveling through the area, would never think to look there.
A couple days later, the woman told an American patrol about the wounded men. Mares and his co-pilot were taken to Utah Beach and then placed aboard a hospital ship bound for England.
With casts on his arm and leg, his 4 ribs almost mended, Mares was flying gliders and cargo planes eight weeks after his ordeal. He would fly many other missions before returning to the United States in July of 1945.
More than 30 years later, Mares learned about Levaufre, who lived in the Normandy area. Levaufre, grateful for the Allies' liberation of France, had helped many Americans find foxholes and trenches from which they fought years earlier.
Mares wrote to Levaufre to arrange a meeting in France. Using Mares' photographs and Levaufre's maps, the men found the very spot where the American had crashed his glider. The trees were large, but still there.
"We pulled the branches back and there were marks on the trunks of the trees where the glider's wings had skinned them up," Mares said. "After that, we didn't say too much. It was very emotional."
That was the beginning of a long friendship between the two men. Now, they exchange war information.
Levaufre, who was 13 when the Allies invaded Normandy, began his research in the early 1960's. He spent weekends in the war-scarred fields, mapping out the locations of foxholes and tank trenches. The process took years.
Eventually, Henri Levaufre learned that the 90th Infantry Division had liberated his hometown of Periers. He wrote to the 90th Infantry Division Association secretary, asking if veterans would contact him. He was flooded with letters. The first two Americans to visit Levaufre came in 1969. Since then, he has helped many Americans, including Mares, who was in the 9th Air Force. Levaufre estimates about 1,400 veterans and their loved ones have gathered around the dining room table, to share their stories of the war.
Levaufre's eyes mist with tears as he tells about one man, Tom, who came to France in 1987. Excited about his visit, Tom promised to return and bring his family.
He never returned. Tom died of a heart attack in 1988. Two years after Tom's visit, Levaufre stood on the shores of Utah Beach with the American's family, Levaufre carried out Tom's final wish, scattering the man's ashes in the waters off of Utah Beach.
Levaufre admits that helping veterans can be exhausting. Still, Levaufre said he finds working with Americans very satisfying.
He and Mares have an especially close bond. "We're just like brothers," Mares said. "We've had common experiences. We read each other pretty well."
---------------------------------------------
The following obituary was published in the Fremont Tribune, on Friday, August 6, 1999
Lt. Col. Emil H. Mares
Lt. Col. Emil H. Mares, U.S Air Force Retired, 87, a resident of Fremont, Nebraska, died Wednesday, August 4, 1999, at Clarkson Hospital in Omaha, Nebraska.
He was born July 12, 1912, in Wilber, Nebraska. He graduated from high school in Western, Nebraska and then graduated from Fairbury Junior College. He enlisted in the United States Air Force on July 12, 1942, and served until retiring on July 12, 1972. During World War II, he served with the 9th Air Force as a Glider Pilot and also as a Command Pilot. He also frequently flew C-47's, on missions delivering supplies behind enemy lines.
Emil had received numerous commendation medals during World War II, including two from the French government for the liberation of Normandy and participation in the liberation of France. Later, as an active reservist, he served as a Liaison Officer for the Air Force Academy. Following active military duty, Emil worked for the Nebraska Job Service in Fairbury, Beatrice, and Fremont, Nebraska.
Emil was an active community volunteer. He was a chairman for many years of the Dodge County Red Cross Bloodmobile. He had been the tax coordinator for the American Association of Retired Persons Tax Service, and was involved with Meals on Wheels program. He also was a life long numismatist.
Emil was a Past Commander of the Fremont Civil Air Patrol and a member and Past President of the Fremont Kiwanis Club. He was a member of the American Legion Post 20, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 854, Disabled American Veteran's Chapter 18, and the Eagles Club in Beatrice, Nebraska.
He married Clarabelle "Claire" M. Talbott, on June 15, 1947, in Belleville, Kansas.
Survivors include his wife, Claire; daughter, Diane (Mrs. Robert) Porter of Henderson, Nevada; a brother, Victor (and wife, Lillian) Mares of Fairbury, Nebraska; and a sister, Helen (Mrs. Milo) Brchan, of Lincoln, Nebraska.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Joseph A. and Agnes Mares, and a brother Adolph A. Mares who was KIA during World War II.
A memorial service will be at 10:30 a.am. Saturday at Ludvigsen Mortuary Chapel in Fremont, Nebraska. The Rev. Stephen Brownlee will officiate. The United States Flag will be presented by the Fremont Honor Guard of the American Legion Post 20 and the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 854. There is no public visitation. Memorials are suggested to the Silent Wings Museum in Terrell, Texas (Glider Pilot Museum) and the Dodge County Historical Society.
Private burial will be at Lincoln Memorial Park Cemetery in Lincoln, Nebraska, at a later date.
Inscription
EMIL H. MARES
LT COL US AIR FORCE
WORLD WAR II
JUL 12, 1912 --- AUG 4, 1999
GLIDER PILOT
9TH AIR FORCE
