Battle Of The Bulge Veteran Martin McAleer Dies At 99 In Bayside

BAYSIDE, QUEENS — Martin W. McAleer Sr., a decorated World War II veteran who fought in the Battle of the Bulge with the 103rd Infantry, died Thursday in Bayside.

McAleer died of cardiorespiratory arrest at Ozanam Hall Nursing Home in Bayside, his daughter-in-law told Newsday. He was 99.

The Battle of the Bulge, which started in December 1944 and lasted for six weeks, was Adolf Hitler's last major offensive campaign against the Allied forces of Britain, France and the United States. It took place in the Ardennes region of Belgium.

"It was pouring rain, and he remembers laying in the mud and then staying by a fire to keep warm," McAleer's daughter-in-law, Patricia, wrote in a remembrance of his military service, according to the Newsday report. "He developed frostbite in his hands and feet, and spent 32 days in the hospital."

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McAleer was later awarded a Purple Heart and the Grand Cross of Homage for the injuries and frostbite he suffered during the military action in the Ardennes, according to his obituary.

Born April 4, 1920, McAleer grew up at the St. Malachy's Home for Boys in Rockaway Beach, Queens, where his parents sent him because they couldn't take care of him during the Great Depression, according to Newsday.

He enlisted in the Army in 1942 and served until the end of World War II, at one point guarding German prisoners at the former Dachau concentration camp, according to military records reviewed by Newsday. He was honorably discharged Feb. 27, 1946, at the rank of private first class.

After the war, he worked as a lithographer at a printing company, according to his obituary.

McAleer is survived by two children, six grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren, Newsday reported.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Ozanam Hall Nursing Home in Bayside.