Alachua County Today Writer Earns VFW Writing Award

ALACHUA ‒ A Life Member of Veterans of Foreign Wars Alachua County Post 2811 won an award for top feature article in the 2024 Veterans of Foreign Wars National Publications Contest.

Michael P. Mauer, a Desert Storm veteran, won the Silver Award for his article, ‘Flag finds way back to Alachua County VFW Post 2811.’  The submission appeared in the Nov. 23, 2023 edition of the Alachua County Today, and placed second in competition after a judges’ review by two non-VFW affiliated journalism professionals.

This is Mauer’s fifth VFW writing award in nine years, and his first for the VFW Department of Florida.

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.  Last year, Mauer won the Grand Award, and in 2022, the Bronze Award.  In 2020, he won his first Silver Award for best feature article in the VFW National Publications Contest, and in 2016, his first Grand Award.  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.  Additionally, he was appointed a VFW National Aide-De-Camp in 2006.

He is a member of Military Veterans in Journalism.

A Bethel Park Pennsylvania 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, Okla.

Mauer is employed with the United States Veterans Administration and lives in Gainesville, Fla. He has been married to his spouse, Marsey, for 38 years.  They have two daughters, Sarah and Rae.

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