From there he attended Bishop Loughlin Memorial
High School in Brooklyn, New York and graduated
in 1931.
For a short period of time, through a friend
of the family, he got a job in the Ponsell
Floor Machine Co. In Jamaica, New York. He
did clerical work for the company.
He talked things over with our dad and he
joined dad, who had a well-established
painting, decorating and wallpapering
business. Dad already had 6 or 7 men in his
employ. Believe-it-or-not, Joe always liked
heights and so if there was a job involving
climbing, Joe was right there. He also did
all dad's clerical work. He worked for our
father from that time until he entered the
service. After a while, he and dad added to
their business by making and selling floor
waxing products.
When he was a young fellow (about 15) he
joined the local Fire Department as a Junior
Fireman. When he became of age he then
became a regular volunteer fireman. This
activity, also, was still in effect when he
entered the service. He was very involved
here in the Lawrence-Cedarhurst Volunteer
Fire Department which is still in
existence. There is a beautiful memorial for
Joe on the front of this firehouse. Within
the firehouse there are several pictures of
Joe while working fires, one carrying a
small boy down a ladder from a burning
building.
Joe lived all of his life in the town of
Cedarhurst from the time he was born until
he enlisted. He was married on October 21,
1938 to May Greller. He and May had no
children.
Joe was always very involved in our local
church. He had a printing press in our
basement and he made many pamphlets, the
weekly church bulletin, etc. etc. Any
activities at the school or church he was
right there doing what had to be done. The 5
or 6 schools in town were always involved in
the various parades, like Memorial Day,
Independence Day, etc. The schools marched
in competition for best appearance, etc. An
award was given for the top school. Both Joe
and our dad were in charge of the parades.
They had St. Joachim's school right on the
ball. Dad was on one side and Joe on the
other and believe me, not one child would dare make a mistake. They were strict
but St. Joachin's always won.
I could go on and on about Joe. He was the
secretary of the Holy Name Society at the
church for 12 years before he enlisted.
We had a local newspaper, The Nassau Herald.
He often submitted articles in the paper. He
was quite active in the local Republican
Club.He liked playing golf and belonged to
the Lawrence Country Club which also is
where his wedding reception was held. You
would especially find him golfing VERY early
Sundays mornings with Rev. Francis P.
Flanagan, the pastor of our church. Father
Flanagan had to get out early so he would
get back in time to say his masses.
Joe was also in the New York State Guard for
a number of years. When he left to join the
paratroopers, he was a Sergeant in the New
York State Guard."
Joseph joined the
Army on 30 November 1942 and
volunteered for the Paratroopers.
His sister
Margaret writes about that: "Joe
and May were married a few years and I
recall him saying that all the young boys
were being drafted into the service and he
felt, even though he was 29 he was as able
as the young fellows and he thought he
should be doing his part for his country. No
one wanted him to enlist but, one day when I
was on the train on my way home from school,
as I was looking for a seat someone called
out to me. It was Joe. He had been in to
NYC. He showed me the papers indicating that
he had enlisted. What a shock. He said, "Now
I'm going home to tell May and when you get
home you can tell mom and dad" I exclaimed,
"No way am I going to tell them. When you've
told May you can come to our house and tell
mom and dad". I'd do anything for Joe but
not that.
Why the paratroopers? I did mention that Joe
liked heights. Going back to 1939, the
Worlds Fair was only about an hour from
Cedarhurst. Joe and May were going and they
let me tag along. We were there for hours
and when we got to the amusement area, Joe
spotted the Parachute Jump and nothing was
keeping him away from it. May wouldn't go up
and he wouldn't allow me to go for fear I'd
be too frightened. Well, Joe did go up in
that parachute, I might say, several
times. That's all he talked about all the
way home. I really think he got such a
thrill on that ride, it stuck in his mind
and thus he wanted to be a paratrooper.
Joseph was a very patriotic and religious
young man. He was respected and loved by all
and very popular in our small town."
After
training at Camp Toccoa and Fort Benning, he was assigned to HQ
Company, 2nd Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry
Regiment, 101st Airborne Division.
Joseph went to
England with his unit and participated in the
D-Day landings in Normandy.
He
then participated in Operation Market Garden, the
airborne landings in The Netherlands, which
aimed to capture the bridges over the Waal and
Rhine rivers. This would open up the possibility
of thrusting north over the Rhine and then
into Germany, bypassing the feared
Siegfried line.
T4 Joseph Mero
landed with HQ Battalion, 2nd Battalion, 501st PIR on 17
September 1944 near Veghel and participated in
the heavy fighting for the bridges that would
bring the (British) land forces from the Belgian
border over the different canals and Maas and
Waal rivers to the British Airborne division
fighting for the bridge at Arnhem.
After the landings and
conquering the bridge, British troops would come
from the Belgian/Dutch border and thrust north,
over the bridges captured by the 101st and 82nd
Airborne Divisions towards Arnhem, where the
British 1st Airborne Division was tasked with
the capture of the bridge over the Rhine.
Unfortunately, the British did not manage to
capture the Arnhem bridge and after a week
of heroic fighting, about 2,000 of the 10,000 that
landed were withdrawn over the Rhine.
The Allies now
had a corridor deep in German territory that
needed defending, as this would be the launching
pad for the next operation, which would be the
definite Rhine crossing. In order to reduce this
threat, the Germans amassed a large number of
forces on both sides of the corridor and along
period of continued attacks against the Allied
lines began.
His sister Margaret continues: "After
landing in Veghel and as soon as he had
time, he sought out the nearest Catholic
Church and became very friendly with Brother
Willabrordo in the church there. When Joe
was buried in Belgium, my sister-in-law went
over there and did meet Brother Willabrordo
and we have , until his death in 2004, kept
in touch with him. I spoke to him several
times on the phone. I have many of his
letters also. He told me on the 17th of
Sept. 1944 he bought a new notebook so he
could get signatures of the soldiers he met.
He sent me a copy of the first 2 pages and
the first name and address happens to be my
brothers. I knew several of the others who
signed. This brothers secular name was
Renier Josephus Hubertus Raeven. He played
the violin in some orchestra over there. He
retired and told me that he always kept
Joe's picture on his desk."
Mark Bando
wrote about Joseph, "Joe
Mero, a clerk typist in HQ/2 501 shot many
Germans from his roost in a grain elevator
at Veghel, Holland on 23 September, 1944.
Joe was fatally wounded the following day"
Joseph Mero was wounded in action on 24
September 1944. He died of his wounds on 9
October.
T4 Joseph Mero
was first buried in Belgium. On 10 June 1949 he was reinterred at Long Island National
Cemetery, New York.
Joseph's
reburial at Long Island National Cemetery on
10 June 1949. The first casket is Joseph's.“Photo courtesy of Margaret Durnin”
Joseph's
family at the grave. With folded arms is his
brother Leon, to the right of himWilliam Kearney,
then Joseph's wife May.Next to May is Joseph's
mother Mary..(Photo courtesy of Margaret Durnin)
