I spoke with one of my father's classmates at a West Point class of '34 reunion. The action was the attack on Cherbourg, as This was two weeks after the landing.

My father had been given command only three days prior. His men were progressing along a road in preparation to take up positions for an assult on the city when a US armored column overtook them and Col. Merrill ordered his troups to disperse to the side of the road. He wanted to be absolutely certain that all his men were out of the way of the tanks, and so he was the last one to get off the road and out of the visibility of the tank commanders who had now come into firing range of the city. As my father stepped off the road he paused again to be sure all his men were safe, and at the same time the tank commander, not knowing that Col. Merrill had stopped, fired on the enemy. My father was killed instantly by the concussion. He was awarded the Purple Heart because they were firing at the enemy.

Some seven days earlier my father had "liberated" a motorcycle. He wrote that "a shell had removed the headlight and the driver." He hooked up a rope first so he could tip it over from a distance to be sure it was not booby trapped! When he rode it, apparently enemy scouts ignored it, as it was a german motorcycle!  He rounded a corner and there were 17 german soldiers resting. He took the whole lot prisoner and brought them back as POWs. For this single handed capture he was awarded the Silver Star!

By Rick Merrill