Wisconsin Board of Veterans Affairs
Veteran Lifetime Achievement Award

Past Award Recipient
June 2008

PROCLAMATION

WHEREAS, John J. Maurer was born in Kenosha, WI in 1922, and served in the U.S. Army Air Corps from 1942-1945, attaining the rank of First Lieutenant; and

WHEREAS, he served his nation as a B-24 bomber pilot and Airplane Commander during World War II while stationed in Italy and flew 17 sorties over Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia; and was awarded the Air Medal with clusters and a number of theater ribbons; and

WHEREAS, following the war, he attended Marquette University and then served with distinction from 1950-1982 as a pilot with United Airlines until his retirement after thirty-three years; and

WHEREAS, he served as a member of the Pleasant Prairie Town Board from 1961-1963, Chair of the Town Board from 1969-1975; and was then elected to the Wisconsin State Senate in 1975, serving in that body until 1985; and

WHEREAS, during his tenure in the Senate, he served on the Building Commission and for eight years as a member of the powerful Joint Committee on Finance, including six years as the Joint Finance Senate Vice Chair and a year as the Committee's Senate Chair; and

WHEREAS, he was appointed in 1985 by the Wisconsin Board of Veterans Affairs to be the Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs and he provided strong, forward-looking leadership in that position for six and one-half years; and

WHEREAS, under his guidance, the facilities and quality of care at the Veterans Home at King were significantly improved, including ensuring that the opening of Ainsworth Hall, a 205-bed skilled nursing facility, would become a reality; and

WHEREAS, as a result of Secretary Maurer's vision and leadership, the small GAR Museum on the fourth floor of the State Capitol almost completed its transformation before his retirement into today's state-of-the-art, nationally recognized Wisconsin Veterans Museum on the Capitol Square; and the offices of the Department of Veterans Affairs were moved to their present location, also on the Capitol Square; and

WHEREAS, during his tenure as Department Secretary, he effectively maintained and further expanded Wisconsin's state veterans benefits; grants were provided to assist in the construction of the Wisconsin Vietnam Veterans Memorial at The HighGround in Neillsville and the Wisconsin Korean War Veterans Memorial at Plover; and he expanded the cooperative efforts between the Department and the CVSOs of Wisconsin, including assisting greatly in the successful efforts to block attempts by some counties to make their county veterans service offices part time; and

WHEREAS, Wisconsin veterans are the beneficiaries of his good work and that good work set the stage for ensuring that the service of our veterans will not only be recognized, but honored.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Marvin J. Freedman, Chair of the Wisconsin Board of Veterans Affairs, proclaim JOHN J. MAURER as the recipient of the Wisconsin Board of Veterans Affairs Veteran Lifetime Achievement Award on this 20th day of June 2008.

MARVIN J. FREEDMAN, Board Chair