Winston County’s oldest World War II veteran turned 100 years old on Memorial Day.
Joseph Leon Merritt, a World War II veteran and the oldest veteran in Winston County received birthday visits and Memorial Day salutes Monday, May 27.
Merritt served as driver and bulldozer operator during World War II.
Merritt had enlisted in the Marines for a four-year stint at the beginning of World War II in 1942.
“I carried a rifle everywhere yet never had to shoot at anyone,” said Merritt. He added that he was shot at while driving but they shot up the jeep and missed him.
“Guess I was lucky,” said Merritt. He explained that during training prior to shipping off to the front lines a sergeant came through and asked if anyone had driven trucks before. Merritt raised his hand and he got pulled from the practice firing line to go drive trucks and bulldozers.
“I had never driven a 6x6 truck but learned very quickly,” said Merritt. He added that he along with his new unit they built airstrips and roads.
“We built the biggest air strip for the B-29’s,” said Merritt. The B-29 Superfortress heavy bombers flew from the airstrips built on the islands near Australia and other Pacific theater islands and destroyed major Japanese military installations.
After serving 3 years in the Pacific Theater, the war ended and Merritt served his remaining year stateside with most of that time in Virginia. Both Merritt’s brothers also served with one in the Air Force and one in the Navy.
“When I had time had got to visit places I never would have thought of,” as he talked about trip to Washington, D.C. while stationed in Virginia.
He noted he did not believe there would ever be another World War.
Following the war, he continued he returned to his home of Winston County. The Marines offered him $700 to and a promotion to reenlist but he quickly told them “No, that he was going home.”
He returned to Winston County to his wife, Gladys, who wrote him everyday he was away in the service. He got a job with a plumbing business and after 4 years home and working, he opened his own plumbing business Merritt Plumbing that he ran for over 30 years. Also, upon returning home he became Music Director at Poplar Flat Baptist Church where he served for over fifty years.
He noted that he got involved as the church’s music director since he had some country singing training and he “married a girl from Polar Flat.”
He noted him and his wife had a good time and planned singings throughout Winston and Choctaw Counties.
Dozens of visitors stopped by to salute Merritt’s service and wish him Happy Birthday during his celebration.
Former senator Giles Ward told Merritt he was an inspiration to so many and thanked him for his service to his country and to his community.
While Merritt is the oldest World War II veteran in the county, his sister Bertha Vickers is 101 and giving her younger brother another goal to strive for.
World War II Veterans are dying quickly—according to US Department of Veterans Affairs statistics, 496,777 of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II are alive in 2018. Mississippi only has 3,497 World War II veterans still alive.
