Veterans of World War II are rapidly shrinking in number. Today, those who survived are dying off at the rate of thousands per day. Each one, foot soldier or five-star general, has a story.
They all become a piece of history as members of the greatest generation.
I don’t know if Jacob C. Mueller was typical of those million-plus who entered the armed forces, but as a very special human being, he touched the lives of a lot of people in a positive way.
The phrase “the last of the really nice guys” could have been penned for Jack. As a young teen, small, bespectacled, often chosen last in a pickup softball game, Jack still seemed to have more fun than the rest of us. A clown, in the best sense of the word, he made us laugh. As newsboys and frequent companions, he and I had more than our share of fun.
We neighborhood guys were playing touch football at Chicago’s Hitch Elementary School playground on Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941, and listening to the Bears game on my brand-new Sears Silvertone portable radio. (It weighed a ton). The game was interrupted by the news of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Within the year we were all in one service or another except Jack. His eyesight did not meet the then existing standards. But as the war progressed, the need for men rose, and the Army finally accepted him.
A letter I received from Jack while I was in the South Pacific came from a hospital in England. As was his way, he was cheerful and joking about his case of “lead poisoning.” It wasn’t until later that I learned it was German lead. Jack earned the Bronze Star, Silver Star and Purple Heart with a cluster–all from that skinny kid who was often chosen last in sport games.
Recently, at 81, Jack surrendered his life to cancer and stroke. Until the end, this father, grandfather, great-grandfather was still Jack. The body may have been failing but not his spirit.
Recently, though in a wheelchair, he insisted on attending the wedding of a granddaughter and he was as joking and playful as ever. It was there his oldest daughter told us that Jack had long ago taught her how to live and now he was teaching her how to die.
A lot of people have learned something positive about life from Jack and I am so proud to have been one of them. He will be missed, this man, this loving father, devoted husband, soldier-patriot, American legionnaire and best buddy.
