Local People

Last Updated on Monday, 29 June 2020 17:38

A Bethel Park native has won an award for one of the top feature articles in the 2020 Veterans of Foreign Wars National Publications Contest.

Michael P. Mauer, VFW Silver Award winner in the 2020 Veterans of Foreign Wars National Publications Contest.

Michael P. Mauer, an Army veteran of Operation Desert Storm, won the Silver Award for his article, ‘Two Mon Valley Veterans Use Pittsburgh Warriors Hockey Action to Ice Wounds.’ This is his second VFW writing award in four years.

Mauer has written scores of articles about the VFW and veterans over the last three decades. These stories have been printed in local, regional and state-wide publications. In 2016, Mauer won the grand award for best feature article in the VFW National Publications Contest. He has been a life member of the VFW since 1995. He has also received citations for his work over the years with the VFW from both the Pennsylvania State Senate and the House of Representatives. He was appointed a VFW National Aide-De-Camp in 2006.

A Bethel Park native, Mauer’s name is one of hundreds inscribed on the Veteran’s Memorial near the borough’s municipal building. He attended Bethel Park Senior High School before earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism and communications from Point Park University in 1984.

Mauer won the Army’s highest journalism honor, the Keith L. Ware, in 1991. He was also awarded the Joint Service Commendation Medal by Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf for his actions as a military reporter in Operation Desert Storm.

In 2010, Mauer was inducted into the Southwestern Pennsylvania Veterans Hall of Fame. He is also a graduate of the United States military’s Defense Information School, and the Field Artillery School in Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

Mauer is employed with the United States Veterans Administration and currently lives in Pittsburgh. He has been married to his spouse, Marsey, for 34 years. They have two daughters, Sarah and Rachel.