1/22
Things that made me shed tears today: this news.
So here’s a name everyone needs to know: Major Willie Merkerson Jr., Retired. He’s a close friend of my dad’s. He’s also a hero who’s receiving a long overdue honor.
(Note my dad cheering in the background)
So here’s a name everyone needs to know: Major Willie Merkerson Jr., Retired. He’s a close friend of my dad’s. He’s also a hero who’s receiving a long overdue honor.
(Note my dad cheering in the background)
05:11 PM - Nov 10, 2023
2/22
It took A LOT of hard work from many people—principally Merkerson’s family—to get him the recognition he has long deserved. My dad and his friends joined the effort, and dad even enlisted me.
Excerpts from my write up of Merkerson’s extraordinary actions:
Excerpts from my write up of Merkerson’s extraordinary actions:
05:13 PM - Nov 10, 2023
3/22
“As noted in his Distinguished Service Cross Award, Major Merkerson — a First Lieutenant at the time of the award and a Second Lieutenant at the time of the relevant operation — ‘distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous actions’ while leading his two-company force against
05:14 PM - Nov 10, 2023
4/22
“two North Vietnamese battalions…. Under ‘heavy machine gun and mortar fire,’ Major Merkerson ‘moved along his lines, shouting encouragement, rallying the troops, and personally firing machine guns, mortars, and grenade launchers,’ ultimately leading a bold attack through
05:14 PM - Nov 10, 2023
5/22
“an enemy encirclement and setting up an evacuation and treatment center for his troops. After learning that one of his companies had been trapped and a fellow advisor wounded, he ‘refused airstrikes in the area and proceeded through 250 meters of enemy infested jungle,’
05:14 PM - Nov 10, 2023
6/22
“locating the advisor and carrying him through ‘intense machine gun and sniper fire to the evacuation area.’ There, Major Merkerson ‘directed air strikes on the enemy positions and called in a Medevac helicopter,’ again exposing himself to enemy fire ‘while going back and forth”
05:14 PM - Nov 10, 2023
7/22
“‘to the helicopter carrying the eleven wounded and five dead soldiers.’”
Let’s just pause here and reflect for a moment because wow.
Let’s just pause here and reflect for a moment because wow.
05:15 PM - Nov 10, 2023
8/22
Picking up again:
“His award makes clear that his ‘fearless leadership turned a possible disaster into a decisive victory’ and that his ‘extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty’ reflected ‘the highest traditions of the military service.’
Yet, there was even more to the story
“His award makes clear that his ‘fearless leadership turned a possible disaster into a decisive victory’ and that his ‘extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty’ reflected ‘the highest traditions of the military service.’
Yet, there was even more to the story
05:15 PM - Nov 10, 2023
9/22
“— further details of Major Merkerson’s heroism and valor that were nearly lost to history.
In a sworn statement dated February 10, 2015, Major Merkerson’s combat interpreter, Huong Lee, also known as ‘Robbie,’ provided new eyewitness information describing additional
In a sworn statement dated February 10, 2015, Major Merkerson’s combat interpreter, Huong Lee, also known as ‘Robbie,’ provided new eyewitness information describing additional
05:15 PM - Nov 10, 2023
10/22
“extraordinary acts of valor on Major Merkerson’s part, at further risk to his life and beyond the call of duty. Robbie's statement describes in vivid detail how Major Merkerson, in the face of overwhelming enemy opposition, embarked on an in-depth, solo search for
05:16 PM - Nov 10, 2023
11/22
“his fellow advisor in the area of a dry rice paddy after being refused help by another soldier in the operation force who told him the advisor was dead and that ‘it was too dangerous and he did not want to die.’ That soldier had ‘pointed in the direction of [the advisor’s] last
05:16 PM - Nov 10, 2023
12/22
“‘known location,’ where Major Merkerson spotted in the distance the shape of a human body he believed might be the advisor.
Though Major Merkerson ‘did not know if the figure . . . was [the advisor], nor did he know [whether] that person was dead or alive,’ he determined that
Though Major Merkerson ‘did not know if the figure . . . was [the advisor], nor did he know [whether] that person was dead or alive,’ he determined that
05:16 PM - Nov 10, 2023
13/22
“he could increase the likelihood of a successful rescue by ramping up his speed. To accomplish that, he ‘decreased his load by dropping his weapon, ammunition, and other equipment,’ voluntarily making himself more vulnerable to attack ‘because he knew that was the only way to
05:16 PM - Nov 10, 2023
14/22
“‘get [the advisor] out and away from enemy fire.’
Unassisted, unarmed, and lacking fire support, Major Merkerson ‘zigzagged through the dry rice paddy for approximately 100 meters without any cover or concealment’ in full daylight toward the figure. He faced increasingly
Unassisted, unarmed, and lacking fire support, Major Merkerson ‘zigzagged through the dry rice paddy for approximately 100 meters without any cover or concealment’ in full daylight toward the figure. He faced increasingly
05:17 PM - Nov 10, 2023
15/22
“intense machine gun and sniper fire as he approached. After hearing the figure — who turned out to be the advisor — yell his name, Major Merkerson dove down toward him and ‘placed his body between [the advisor] and the enemy sniper and machine gunners, shielding [the advisor]
05:17 PM - Nov 10, 2023
16/22
“‘from their bullets.’ The advisor told him, ‘I thought everyone had left me.’ Major Merkerson replied, ‘No one’s going to leave you, so let’s get the hell out of here!’”
PAUSE. Big pause. Wow wow wow
PAUSE. Big pause. Wow wow wow
05:17 PM - Nov 10, 2023
17/22
“Given that the advisor’s injuries prevented him from walking or even crawling, there was only one option for the two of them to escape alive: Major Merkerson lifted the advisor onto his back and once again zigzagged the 100 meters through the dry rice paddy he had just traversed
05:18 PM - Nov 10, 2023
18/22
“— back through continuous sniper and machine gun fire.
At the rice paddy’s edge, Major Merkerson ‘methodically moved from [one] wounded soldier to another and provided emergency medical treatment to the advisor and approximately ten other . . . soldiers’ while simultaneously
At the rice paddy’s edge, Major Merkerson ‘methodically moved from [one] wounded soldier to another and provided emergency medical treatment to the advisor and approximately ten other . . . soldiers’ while simultaneously
05:18 PM - Nov 10, 2023
19/22
“‘directing and coordinating helicopter gunship attacks on the enemy’s location.’ He also ‘conducted several sorties of U.S. Air Force jet strikes’ that ‘destroyed one anti-aircraft battery and one artillery battery’ of the North Vietnamese Army and suppressed their mortar fire,
05:18 PM - Nov 10, 2023
20/22
“which ‘enabled the medevac helicopters to successfully land and prevented his operation force from being overrun.’
As Robbie’s statement makes clear, Major Merkerson not only ‘saved the lives of the remaining friendly soldiers on the ground,’ but risked his own life to save
As Robbie’s statement makes clear, Major Merkerson not only ‘saved the lives of the remaining friendly soldiers on the ground,’ but risked his own life to save
05:19 PM - Nov 10, 2023
21/22
“the advisor ‘in circumstances he knew were extremely dangerous’ and with ‘overwhelming odds against a successful rescue.’”
There’s more, but I’ll stop here. I want to close this thread with Merkerson’s own words, from today. And I’m probably going to cry again:
There’s more, but I’ll stop here. I want to close this thread with Merkerson’s own words, from today. And I’m probably going to cry again:
05:19 PM - Nov 10, 2023
22/22
“People call me a hero or someone to look up to. I say, ‘No, we left a lot of heroes over there.’ And they had mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers and aunts and wives. But they didn’t make it back home.”
05:21 PM - Nov 10, 2023
In response to Leta McCollough Seletzky.
WOW. I’m speechless (& also a bit teary) at this incredible valor.
Thx so much for sharing; I’m absolutely bookmarking/ filing away in my personal hero file🥲
Thx so much for sharing; I’m absolutely bookmarking/ filing away in my personal hero file🥲
05:42 PM - Nov 10, 2023
