Memorial

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1st Lt John J. Mahula attended Mount Angel College and was employed by the Oregon Pulp and Paper company.

He joined the Regular Army in Portland, Oregon on 17 September 1941. He trained at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, and later at Keesler Field where he was graduated from aviation mechanics school. He served for a year at Morrison field, Palm Beach, Florida, and then went to officers candidate school at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. He was commissioned second lieutenant in the artillery in November 1943. He had been overseas four months.

Lt. Mahula was posted along a main supply route and slept in a hastily constructed cabin. He suffered the misfortune of being hit by an abandoned U.S. night reconnaissance plane. The plane iced up, and the pilot bailed out. The plane hit the cabin and killed Mahula.

He was one of three sons of the family who served. The other were M/Sgt Martin Mahula in the South Pacific and Sgt Francis Mahula with the army in the European theatre.