Thomas J. Merritt was born in 1925 in Duluth, Minnesota, the son of Colonel Carleton Merritt and Mrs. Mae Carroll Merritt. Thomas was a great grandson of Napoleon B. Merritt, one of the "Seven Iron Merritt" who discovered the Mesabi Iron Range in Minnesota.

Thomas attended Shattuck Military Academy at Faribault, Minnesota and was an avid hockey player. He enlisted in the U.S. Army following graduation and was selected for the Infantry. He obtained his commission through the Officer Candidate School.

Thomas didn't participate in the Normandy invasion, he was assigned to the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment as a replacement platoon leader in C Company, 508th PIR.

508th Parachute Infantry Regiment

82nd Airborne Division
 

2nd Lt Thomas Merritt was killed in action on October 11, 1944 in the Bemmel area, north of the Waal River. He was temporarily buried on October 13, 1944 at the Molenhoek Cemetery (grave E-3-73), alongside the Nijmegen-Malden-Mook highway.

His name is recorded on the Veterans War Memorial in Duluth, Minnesota.

2Lt Thomas J. Merritt is buried at Margraten American Military Cemetery, Plot G Row 3 Grave 10.

Margraten, The Netherlands

 

Acknowledgements:
Mr. Ron Merritt

Directions to Margraten American Military Cemetery

If you have any suggestions, comments or additional information, please contact me.

This website is dedicated to the men and women who died and/or are buried in The Netherlands during World War II.

 

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