PFC Edward Maynard sacrificed his life for our freedom April 22, 1945 on the Pacific island of Luzon. He died in the arms of his twin brother, 8,000 miles from their Kentucky home at the age of 24.

Edward was born on July 28, 1920 in Pinsonfork, Pike County, Kentucky, a coal mining area near the West Virginia border. His parents were Rudolph and Octavia Charles Maynard, both of whom were also born in Kentucky. His father was a coal miner. Edward and his twin brother, Edgar, were the oldest of nine children, seven boys and two girls. He attended McVeigh High School in Pike County and was married to Dixie May Maynard.

Edward and his twin brother, Edgar, and their younger brother, Fred, all enlisted in April 1941, and they served together in the 38th Infantry Division. Each of the three brothers had a nickname. Edward was “Fatty,” Edgar was “Slim,” and Fred was “Butter.”

In March and April of 1945, the 38th was engaged in fierce fighting with the Japanese in the rugged Zambales Mountains on the island of Luzon during the Allied drive to retake the Philippines. On April 22, Edward was struck by a bullet from a Japanese machine gun. Edgar fired into the machine gun nest and silenced it, and then carried his brother to the shade of a large rock. Their brother Fred came running to join them. The three brothers sat together and talked of home and family. Edward died in the arms of his twin brother. A newspaper account said the brothers could “shoot the eyes out of squirrels.” The three brothers were credited with killing 54 Japanese that day.

Edward’s body was returned home for burial in 1948. He is interred in the Maynard family cemetery in Pinsonfork, as are his parents.

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (www.storiesbehindthestars.org .) This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen here on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smart phone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/192570017/edward-maynard