After the War

2nd Lt. Maynard L. Jones:

For a time after his release he was hospitalized in a hospital in or near Paris, France.  Following a delay in England and after his return to the United States, he was hospitalized in a Schick General Hospital in Clinton, Iowa where surgery was performed on his leg.

Then he was transferred to a recuperation center in San Antonio, Texas, from where he was medically retired from the service as a 1st Lt. in October 1946.

Upon his return to the United States, Maynard called his mother and said, “Mom, I smoke.”  His daughter Marna Jones Hopkins said that he wanted to let his mother know that he smoked before he arrived back home.  Marna reported that Maynard’s mother replied, “That’s OK.  You can quit!”  However, Maynard continued to smoke throughout his life, though not inside his mother’s house.

In August of 1945, he met his future wife B. Lou Barkus on a blind date, becoming engaged in February 1946, and later married at the First Methodist Church in Des Moines, Polk Co., Iowa, on Sunday, November 24, 1946.

Maynard wrote that he had written to Mrs. Anna Hautman, mother of Edward Hautman, after the war and that on their honeymoon Maynard and B. Lou visited his co-pilot Carroll Snidow in Roanoke, Virginia.  Snidow wrote that he regretted that he and Maynard had not remained in touch as, “He and I were good friends during tour flying days and our stay in England.”

A few months previously, Maynard had returned to Drake University to resume his premedical studies.  Following completion of his studies and achieving a BA degree in 1948, he was accepted in the medical school at the University of Iowa, in Iowa City, Johnson Co., Iowa.  He received his MD degree in 1952.  He completed one-year internship at Broadlawns Polk County General Hospital, and he then moved to Colfax, Jasper Co., Iowa where he established a solo practice of medicine.

Maynard and B. Lou had four children:  Kendra; Marna, Jeffrey, and Todd.

Beginning in 1958, Maynard established a second practice in Newton, Jasper Co., Iowa, and moved his family there.  In June 1961, Maynard was severely injured in a motor vehicle accident that included re-fracturing his right femur and other internal injuries.  Following a long hospitalization that included surgery on his right leg and a period of recuperation, Maynard decided to close his practice in Newton and to move back to Colfax in November 1962.  He remained for the rest of his life.  However, his practice was limited because of physical and respiratory disabilities.

Maynard served for at least seventeen years on the Board of Directors of the Colfax Community School District.  

Maynard fell fracturing his hip on 9 November 1979 while making coffee in his home.  He was taken to Skiff Memorial Hospital in Newton, Iowa where he was placed in traction for a long period of time.  While he was hospitalized, Maynard was honored by the Colfax Kiwanis on 29 November 1979 for his many years of service to the community.  B. Lou accepted the award on Maynard’s behalf.  Maynard’s respiratory problems surfaced again during this hospitalization, and he was transferred from Newton to Des Moines on Christmas Day, 1979.  He was ultimately placed on a ventilator; however, he died on 18 January 1980 in Mercy Hospital, in Des Moines, Iowa.  He was buried in Colfax Cemetery, Colfax, Iowa, with graveside military rites conducted by Jones-Willis Post 175, American Legion.  

At the time of his death, he was a member of the American Legion, the Iowa Medical Society and the American Medical Association.

Other Crew Members of the Mairzy Doats

1st Lt. Edward F. Hautman:

1st Lt. Edward F. Hautman was the pilot of the ill-fated Mairzy Doats and died on September 27, 1944.  It appears that his remains were never recovered or at least never positively identified, but he is memorialized on Tablets of the Missing at the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery and Memorial, Henri-Chapelle, Arrondissement de Verviers, Liege, Belgium.  He had never married.  His father preceded him in death in 1926 and his mother Anna D. Hautman died in 1954.  Ironically and interestingly, both sets of grandparents were born in Germany.

2nd Lt. Carroll Givens Snidow:

Carroll arrived in New York City on June 21, 1945.  After leaving the Army, Carroll graduated from Virginia Tech in June 1948 with a degree in engineering.  Later in June 1948 he married Norma Lee Mitchum in Roanoke, Roanoke Co., Virginia.   He and Norma had a son and a daughter.  Carroll had a 37-year career as a sales engineer for Texaco, retiring as a district manager.  Carroll died on August 8, 2007 in Roanoke and was buried in that city.  Carroll was the last of the Hautman crew to pass away, nearly 63 years after the crash of the Mairzy Doats.  His wife Norma is still living at the time of this manuscript.  

2nd Lt. John Albert Friese:

He was released from active duty on October 12, 1945 married Dorothy Margaret Huset on February 8, 1946, in St. Paul, Ramsey Co., Minnesota.    He and Dorothy had three daughters.  Following the war, he finished his college degree and resumed his work at Babcock & Wilcox, a company producing steam generators, following his military service.    The family moved frequently, but settled in Ohio at his retirement from B&W in 1982.  He was a champion golfer and bowler.  John died on April 14, 1985, in Akron, Summit Co., Ohio, and was buried in Grue Lutheran Cemetery, Buxton, Traill Co., North Dakota.  Dorothy married Wesley Perry Lee after John’s death.  She died in 2012.  John’s paternal grandparents were both born in Schwerin, Germany.  By a twist of fate, that city was the object of his combat mission on August 4, 1944.

S/Sgt. Dale Corwin Maupin:

Dale married Anna Lou Foxworthy on August 19, 1947, in Mt. Hope, Hempstead Co., Arkansas.  They had one son.  Dale died on January 16, 1994, in Tipton, Moniteau Co., Missouri, and was buried in the Green Grove Cemetery in Latham, Moniteau Co., Missouri.  Anna died in 2008.

T/Sgt. Thomas Vernon Land:

He was married to Lounata Newby on December 24, 1940.  Thomas died on August 18, 2006, in Somerset, Pulaski Co., Kentucky.  He was a retired auto parts salesman of Land Auto Supply, and a lifetime member of the Disabled American Veterans and the American Ex-Prisoners of War.  Thomas was noted to be a Kentucky Colonel and a member of the Richmond Nazarene Church.  He was buried in the Mill Springs National Cemetery in Nancy, Pulaski Co., Kentucky.  He was survived by two daughters, and one brother, but was preceded in death by his wife who died in 1998.

T/Sgt.Harold William Giesler:

Harold married Fern after his return to the United States.  He was released from active duty on September 29, 1945.  He and Fern had three sons.  Harold died on April 4, 1996 in Osakis, Douglas Co., Minnesota, and was buried in the West Evergreen Cemetery in Douglas Co., Minnesota.  Fern died in 2006.

T/Sgt. Orvel George Howe:

Orvel married Jewel Margaret Phillips on November 10, 1941, in Jackson, Cape Girardeau, Missouri.  They probably had one son.  After his return to the United States, he remained on active duty until October 31, 1950.  He re-enlisted on January 3, 1954, and remained in military service until December 31, 1962.  It appears that Orvel probably completed 20 years of active duty service.  After leaving the service, he lived in Dadeville, Dade Co., Missouri.  His obituary listed his occupation as a farmer and his wife at the time of his death as “Alice”.  He died on November 4, 1995 at the home of his daughter in Oak Grove, Jackson Co., Missouri.  There were two children, a son and a daughter.  Howe was cremated.  His (first?) wife Jewel died in 1993.

S/Sgt. John A. Tarbert:

S/Sgt. Tarbert was a waist gunner on the Mairzy Doats and was one of three crew members who died that day.  His remains have yet to be recovered.  He had married Jenevieve Carolyn Judd by whom he had a son that he never had the opportunity to see.  His wife died in 2000 having married a man named Elliott many years earlier.  Their son John took the last name of Elliott.

S/Sgt. Gordon F. Waldron:

S/Sgt. Gordon F. Waldron was the tail gunner on the Mairzy Doats and died on September 27, 1944.  He had married Loretta Mae Pulver on October 4, 1941 but there were no known children to this union.   His remains were buried in Dimondale Cemetery, Dimondale, Eaton Co., Michigan.  Loretta later married Alfred T. Taylor on December 1, 1946.  She died in 2001.

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