FRANK DOW MERRILL
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| USMA West Point Class of 1929 Photo Courtesy of Scott A. Tackett Sr. |
Major General Burma 1944 |
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| While Commanding General of Merrill's Marauders Burma 1944 |
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| Gen. Frank D. Merrill | Gen Joeseph Stilwell Burma 1944 |
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| Photo Courtesy of Scott A. Tackett Sr. | |||
| FRANK DOW MERRILL 1903-1955 |
| Frank Dow Merrill was born at Hopkinton Mass. on Dec 4, 1903. He enlisted in the regular army in 1922 and graduated from West point in 1929. He obtained his B.S. degree in military engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Assigned to Tokyo in 1938, Merrill studied Japanese and Chinese while working as the assistant military attache at the United States Embassy in Tokyo. By 1941 he was promoted to major (temporarily) and assigned to Manila as General Douglas MacArthur's intelligence officer. When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Merrill was in Rangoon, Burma on a flying mission for MacArthur, and was assigned to the China-Burma-India Theater of Operations when the U.S. entered World War II. In the Spring of 1942 Merrill was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. In July 1942 He was awarded the Order of the Purple Heart and other medals for his meritorious actions in Burma between March and May 1942. In October 1943, Merrill became operations chief for Gen. Joseph W. Stilwell. As such he organized the 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), a long range penetration group, for a hazardous mission in Burma. After intensive training in jungle warfare, "Merrill's Marauders" as they became known, became the first American infantrymen to fight on the Asiatic mainland. Merrill was promoted to Major General In 1945 Merrill was Chief of Staff at the 10th Army, Okinawa. In 1947 he was with the U.S. military advisory group to the Republic of the Philippines. He retired from the army in 1948 with the rank of Major General. After retirement from the Army, Merrill moved back to New Hampshire with his wife and two sons to become New Hampshire's Highway Commissioner The physical and mental hardships of his campaign in Burma during the second world war had left their mark on Merrill and he died, at the age of 52, at Fernandina Beach Fla. while attending a meeting of the American Association of State Highway Officials, where he had just been elected president of that organization. He was one of America's truly great generals. |