Photo courtesy of Stories Behind the Stars
Mearl E. Bair, Jr.

CISTERNA di LATINA, Italy — In October 1943, Mearl E. Bair, Jr., of Newton Hamilton, arrived in Italy with Company A of the Army’s 4th Ranger Battalion. The commando unit had successfully spearheaded Operation Husky’s landings in Sicily in July and Operation Avalanche’s beach assault west of Salerno, Italy in September. Bair’s introduction to combat was the drive on Naples and the prolonged fighting on the Germans’ Winter Line. The Rangers’ third combat operation on Italy’s mainland would prove disastrous for the unit and for Bair.

Mearl Edward Bair, Jr. was born on Feb. 3, 1924 in San Antonio, Texas to his namesake father and Eby Elizabeth Flowers Bair. He had two younger brothers, John and William. The family resided in Independence Township, Michigan, where Bair’s father was a plumber, before settling in Newton Hamilton, Pennsylvania by 1935. Bair left school after completing the eighth grade. After his parents divorced in 1940, Bair moved into the Newton Hamilton household of his aunt. He married Violet Jane Goshorn of Ryde, Mifflin County on March 3, 1942 and welcomed the birth of their daughter, Luvania, on June 17, 1943 in Lewistown.

Bair registered for the draft in Lewistown on June 30, 1942. He worked at Harbison Walker Refractory in Mount Union. Bair enlisted in the Army in Altoona on March 22, 1943 and reported for active duty at New Cumberland a week later.

The 4th Ranger Battalion was attached to the 5th Army for Operation Shingle. The operation began with the amphibious landing at Peter Beach, Anzio on Jan. 22, 1944. The 6615th Ranger Force was formed specifically for the Anzio landings and included the 1st, 3rd and 4th Ranger Battalions, the 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion and several other units. After suffering few casualties at Anzio, the 6615th was tasked with sneaking behind German lines to capture the town of Cisterna.

Unknown to Allied intelligence, German commanders suspected an imminent attack on Cisterna and fortified the area with a large force of crack troops, armored units and artillery. As the 1st and 3rd Ranger Battalions entered Cisterna at 0100 on Jan. 30, the concealed enemy opened fire. The lightly armed Rangers were outgunned by the Germans’ tanks, machine guns, mortars and artillery. The 1st and 3rd battalions were overwhelmed. The 4th Ranger Battalion attempted to save the surrounded 1st and 3rd battalions in a bitter and bloody two-day battle, but failed. The 4th Ranger Battalion suffered 30 killed and 58 wounded. Of the 767 Rangers who made it into Cisterna, all but six were either killed or captured. The 4th Ranger Battalion helped to thwart a German counterattack on Feb. 4, 1944. It was the last use of the Rangers in the Mediterranean Theater.

Bair was mortally wounded by artillery fire near Cisterna. He was evacuated to a field hospital where his kidney was removed. Bair died from his wounds on March 3, 1944 and was interred temporarily in Italy. The World War II Dead Program repatriated his remains to the United States where they received final burial at Newton Hamilton Memorial Cemetery on Aug. 1, 1948.

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Stories Behind the Stars memorials are accessible for free on the internet and via smartphone app at gravesites and cenotaphs. The non-profit organization is dedicated to honoring all 421,000 fallen Americans from World War II, including 31,000 from Pennsylvania. To volunteer or for more information, contact Kathy Harmon at kharmon@storiesbehindthestars.org or visit www.storiesbehindthestars.org.