101-Year-Old Howard Mautner - Allied Logistics in North Africa, Italy, and Austria

At 101 years old, Howard Mautner stands among the last living Americans who served in World War II. A Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Army Air Force, his journey took him from the quiet streets of the Midwest to the frontlines of Allied logistics in North Africa, Italy, and Austria - offering a unique perspective from the control towers that kept the USAAF in motion.

In the wake of Pearl Harbor, Howard enlisted at just 18 years old in September 1942, hoping to become a tail gunner on a four-engine bomber. But when his vision didn’t meet the stringent requirements for flight crew, he pivoted to air traffic control.

By late 1943, he shipped out on a Liberty ship from Norfolk, Virginia, eventually disembarking in Casablanca. With recent Allied victories pushing Axis forces out of Africa, Howard’s assignment quickly moved him to Naples, Italy, where he joined the 117th Army Airways Communications Squadron supporting the 15th Air Force.

Stationed at Capodichino Airfield, Howard guided transport and cargo planes through the busy skies of southern Italy. While the airfield wasn't primarily used for combat aircraft, damaged bombers would sometimes limp in after missions—some with live ordnance still attached, presenting dangerous moments on the ground. His time in Naples also intersected with a rare natural disaster: the 1944 eruption of Mount Vesuvius. The explosion, the volcano’s first in over 150 years, destroyed a dozen U.S. B-25 bombers parked at a nearby airfield.

Later, in 1945, Howard was transferred to Venice and then to Vienna, Austria, where he worked in the tower at Tulln Airfield. At the time, Vienna was a city carved into occupation zones—American, British, French, and Soviet. To reach his post each day, Howard had to pass through the Russian sector, a daily reminder of the uneasy peace that followed Germany’s surrender.

As a Jewish-American, Howard carries a deep understanding of the war’s significance. But he never viewed his own role as extraordinary. For him, it was a small but meaningful contribution to a collective effort to defeat fascism and tyranny abroad.