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Personal info

Full name
MERRICK, William James Jr
Date of birth
10 November 1915
Age
29
Place of birth
Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey
Hometown
Bayonne, Hudson County, New Jersey

Military service

Service number
42014663
Rank
Technician Fifth Grade
Function
unknown
Unit
A Company,
312th Engineer Combat Battalion,
87th Infantry Division
Awards
Purple Heart

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
11 January 1945
Place of death
Libramont-Chevigny, Belgium

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Luxembourg
Plot Row Grave
G 10 21

Immediate family

Members
William J. Merrick (father)
Pauline E. Merrick (mother)
Thomas J. Merrick (brother)
John P. Merrick (brother)
Peter Merrick (brother)
Mary Merrick (sister)
Anthoney Merrick (brother)
Rosalie Merrick (sister)
George Merrick (brother)
Harriet J. Merrick (wife)
William Merrick (son)

More information

T/5 William J. Merrick Jr. was an electrician at the Electric Boat Company before he enlisted in Newark, New Jersey on 18 September 1943.

The explosives used in the mines planted by the engineers was known by chemists and engineers to explode spontaneously if it became cold. The planners had no intention of using the mines in a cold climate, but they expected the war in Europe to be over before the winter of 1944. 24 members of A Company were inside a building receiving instruction about placing mines, when the mines exploded, destroying the building they were in and two buildings to the left. The explosion was heard seven miles away.

He was first buried at the Temporary American Military Cemetery in Grand Failly, France.

Source of information: Peter Schouteten, www.abmc.gov, www.findagrave.com, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov – WWII Enlistment Record, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record / U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men / 1920/1930 Census, http://87thinfantrydivision.com
Photo source: www.findagrave.com - Bevil Cohn