Remembering a Warrior

[cudarunner]

Remembering a Warrior

Max Nelson Sheffler



My second cousin, Max Sheffler, entered the Army in 1952. Max was a month younger than my mother, who adored him. I heard about him, this ‘Warrior,’ the entire time I was growing up.

I first remember meeting Max in the mid 60s when I was about 11 or 12 years old and I believe he was being shipped out to Viet Nam for his first tour of duty. I don’t know what I had said, but he took me to his car and gave me a military pamphlet on how to set up a camp, among other things. I can still see him standing proud in his dress khaki uniform with his trousers tucked into his polished black boots laced like nothing that I’d ever seen before. I would later learn that those boots were tied ‘Airborne’ and the trousers were ‘bloused.’ To say that he made a huge impression on me would be an understatement.

Once he was in country and I had an mailing address; I sent Max box after box of cookies that I’d baked from scratch, and every once in a while I’d get a short letter thanking me for the treats. During his second tour he lost his right heel to an incoming mortar and suffered other wounds from shrapnel. He finished his career with a built up boot or shoe as a Senior Instructor.

After 21 years with the Army serving in several units, including the 101st and later the 173rd Airborne Brigades, Max retired and worked as a plumber. Tragically, about 5 years after his retirement, Max perished in an apartment fire. While the official cause of death was smoke inhalation, he was severely burned and his funeral was a closed-casket affair. Max’s best friend sent his medals, service ribbons, etc, to his mother and father. Max’s oldest sister placed them in a framed case for their mother and father to display.



After Max’s parents had passed away, his sisters gave the display to his ex-wife for her and his children to have; they now regret that decision. I wanted to find a way to replace Max’s medals so that our extended family could see what he’d done during his service for our country.

To make a very long story much shorter; I asked fellow member and friend (MajorEthanolic) who is currently serving in the Army if he could identify the objects in the very fuzzy picture that I had of the awards mounted by Max’s oldest sister so that I could search and find replacements. He could ID some of them and offered to replace all of the medals, ribbons, and other awards for me out of his pocket at no charge to me. I was blown away by his gracious offer and thanked him for it; however there were some images that he needed help with identifying.

Another member and friend (Iz6) who was in Viet Nam at the same time as Max as a Pathfinder has been a GODSEND for filling in the blanks of what was needed. He quickly ID’d the awards and other items in question, and once I’d sent him a copy of Max’s service records, he provided me with a detailed history of where Max had been and with what units. Quite the tale to read, to say the very least.

Yet another SRP member and friend stepped up to help. (lionfishslayer) helped provide the picture of Max cut from a family picture. He also removed the flash reflections from the following picture of the Tribute Shadow Box. He’s also helping with making a secondary display, which will have the picture of Max and will tell what the medals and awards are and will include digital images of the awards. Together, these three friends worked as a team to fulfill what I had envisioned. While I can’t thank them enough, I will indeed try.

My Eternal Thanks to Ian (MajorEthanolic) for initially offering to help with identifying and replace the medals, ribbons, and other awards. And later on for finding the maker of ‘The Perfect Shadow Box’ for the replacement awards.

The same goes to Bob (Iz6) for his knowledge of Viet Nam and his help with identifying the medals, awards, and ribbons in question, as well as for enduring my seemingly endless questions. He has the patience of Job himself.

Bill (lionfishslayer) has been as patient with me as with Bob and Ian, he has been a Godsend helping me with his expertise. Without their help, this vision of mine would still be just that; a ‘vision.’

After about a year’s worth of research and teamwork, here’s the Tribute Shadow Box that will grace Max’s hometown’s museum in Kendrick, Idaho, in the Military Section:



I thank you for looking, reading, and ‘listening’ to something that means so much to me and many other of Max’s relatives.