Obituaries : Maxwell Andler; Bataan Death March Survivor

Maxwell Andler, 81, a survivor of the Bataan Death March who became a distinguished neurosurgeon in Los Angeles. Born July 2, 1914, in Malden, Mass., Andler graduated from the USC School of Medicine in 1940 and served his internships and residency at Los Angeles County General Hospital (now County-USC Medical Center) before volunteering for military duty in May 1941. He was serving as an Army Air Corps flight surgeon in Manila when the Philippines was overrun by Japanese forces. A survivor of the notorious Bataan Death March, Andler was later awarded a Bronze Star for the medical care he provided to his fellow soldiers during more than three years of imprisonment. Returning to practice in Southern California after the war, Andler eventually served as chief of surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He attended Sen. Robert F. Kennedy after the presidential candidate was felled by an assassin’s bullet in 1968. At Cedars-Sinai on Monday of complications after a short illness.