Memorial

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Paul Mazal entered the US Army on August 16, 1942, after completing his civilian pilot training at Placer College in Auburn that same year. In July 1943 he was sent overseas to the European theatre. When he visited his home in the autumn of 1944, Lt Mazal had completed 50 missions. His final flight near the German/Belgium border on March 19, 1945 was a strafing run. The pilot of another plane right behind him reported seeing him flatten out and pull up his plane but didn´t see him again. He also didn´t see the crash. Paul W. Mazal was declared Missing in Action.

But the story of this WWII fighter didn´t end there. On September 4, 2005, Army Sgt Danny Keay, an aviator archeologist, and his team unearthed the P-47 Thunderbolt plane in a peat bog in the area that was about to become a German highway. Amazingly, Sgt Keay found the plane with readable serialnumbers and the well-preserved body of Lt Mazal, still in his jacket, boots and parachute, in a sitting position. Mazal´s body was extricated and sent to Hawaii where it was positively identified. On May 14, 2007 at a memorial ceremony, a US flag was presented to his cousin, Amalia Kiss Periera of Courtland, Ca. Per family tradition, the remains were cremated and spread over the Sierra Highs.