Tom Maki

Whitaker Tom Maki

Fred Maynard Whitaker was an infantry rifleman in the United States Army in World War II. He was just 17 when he enlisted in June 1943, and by the time he entered combat in December 1944 the end of the war in Europe was only six months away. But he those six months he participated in the grueling Ardennes German offensive that has come to be known as the Battle of the Bulge. He also took part in the fierce fighting that surrounded the crossing of the Moselle and Rhine Rivers, as well as the other fighting that took place as the Allies pushed east into Germany. Fred received a Purple Heart as well as other honor and service medals, but they are of no real importance. The personal risks large and small that he and others like himself took for their country make all of them heroes with or without decorations. This is his story.