Guardsman, World War II vet John W. Meeler dies

John W. Meeler inspects some records of his beloved 179th Field Artillery Battalion during an appearance at a 2003 Historical Society of the Georgia National Guard conference.

The Georgia National Guard lost another of its World War II veterans with the death on Memorial Day of John W. (Bill) Meeler, Sr. 89, lately of Cedartown, Ga. Joining the Guard in 1936, he was called to active duty in 1940 with his unit, the 179th Field Artillery Battalion. Just prior to the “call up,” Bill married his wife of 68 years, Marjorie Elizabeth Plaster.

During the coming five years he rose to the rank of First Sergeant, as the 179th trained at Camp Blanding, FL, Camp Shelby, MS, Fort Sill, OK, and Camp Gruber, OK. He landed on Normandy’s Utah Beach in the summer of 1944, and his battalion became part of General George S. Patton’s Third Army, fighting its way across France, in a matter of weeks. Meeler earned the Bronze Star for his meritorious actions at the Delme Ridge, as Patton’s Army took control of the Lorraine region.

During the Battle of the Bulge, Meeler’s 179th was instrumental in relieving the besieged 101st Airborne at Bastogne, Belgium. He ended his active service at the war’s end in 1945, as the Third Army crossed into Czechoslovakia. Following the war, Mr. Meeler worked for and retired from Bell Telephone in Atlanta.

He was a frequent contributor and member of the Historical Society of the Georgia National Guard and a featured speaker at several of that organization’s conferences.

He is survived by William Meeler is survived by his wife, Marjorie Elizabeth Plaster, lately of Cedartown, Ga.,, his daughter, Penelope Meeler Gaither and her husband Thomas A. Gaither of Cedartown, Ga.,; his son, Dr. Joseph Lee Meeler and his wife Janet Cox Meeler of Smyrna, Ga.; and his youngest son, John William Meeler, Jr. and his wife Carol Portwood Meeler of Marietta, Ga., as well as four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.