Fort George G. Meade: The First 100 Years

SCRAPBOOK MEMORIES
On July 11, 1931, after spending several years working as an electrician, Merle Lee Madera, called “Mack” by his coworkers,
accepted a temporary position as an electrician lineman at Fort Meade. In July 1932, when a fellow lineman
was electrocuted in an on-the-job accident, Madera was promoted to a permanent position. With the permanent job,
he moved his family from West Virginia to Odenton, Maryland, and later moved on post to Chamberlain Avenue. In
February 1936 when his foreman was killed in an automobile accident, Merle was promoted to his position as Senior
Electrician.
Our family’s history with Fort Meade goes back to 1948 when my dad, Charles J. McLaughlin, was first stationed there.
Dad was a company commander in the 12th Armored Division during WWII. After the war, and a brief return to
civilian life when he married Julia Carney, he decided to make the Army his career and was assigned to Fort Meade.
On Jan. 20, 1949, in the turret of an M8 Light Armored Vehicle out of Fort Meade, he participated in President
Truman’s inauguration parade. My brother Chuck was born later that year at the Fort Meade Station Hospital.
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