Meet Albert Oscar Merkley at 96
Albert Oscar Merkley age 18
Albert Oscar Merkley age 96
Albert was born in Schnellville,IN and was #9 out of 11 kids in a German Catholic family. He had 7 brothers and 3 sisters - two brothers died young. He was raised as a farmer and manned the fields with mules to plow. They grew tomatoes, hay and grain for their livestock. His family spoke German and they had to learn English due to change in laws where English had to be used in schools.
He went to Birdseye High School where he played High School basketball. When he turned 17, he dropped out of high school and enlisted in the Navy in May 1944. At that time 3 of his older brothers (Arthur, Ralph, Clarence ) were already in the service and he felt called to serve. His brother Gilbert then followed. Albert enlisted with the navy due to his smaller statue and the fact he did not want to do hand to hand combat. He signed up to be on a destroyer but ultimately ended up on a escort carrier ship (USS ATTU CVE 102). His ship transported planes from Hawaii or San Diego out to bigger ships in the South Pacific.
He went to Great Lakes Naval Base for boot camp and earned his GED there. He took a train to San Diego where he boarded his ship. When he first arrived the Captain was trying to “break in the farmer boys” and they made the ship rock heavily and everyone got sick. Albert said “ I got so sick I threw up my buttons!”.
Out at sea and in active duty he held 3 jobs on the ship: look out duty, battle station, and his regular duty was a Sail Maker. One time during his look out duty he noticed the ship was headed for a floating mine, he informed them and they tried to steer the ship away and he watched the mine go under the water but fortunately his quick thinking the mine just missed them.
During Battle station he was a gunner on the port side manning a Bofor 40mm anti-air craft autocannon. Although, he never knew if he actually shot down any Kamikaze planes.
Sadly, around Christmas 1944 he was informed that his oldest Brother Arthur had died in combat in France Nov 19, 1944- his remains were buried there.
In June 1945 there was a typhoon and his ship went straight through it. At one point, the captain of the ship told everyone not working to get to one side of the ship in order to keep the ship from capsizing and they were able to stay a float and with minimal damage to the ship itself despite the high waves/winds. They had to run from side to side again and again as the ship rocked. During the eye of the storm one of his shipmates climbed and retrieved their ships flag - it is now on display at Pensacola Naval Air Musuem.
The War ended Sept 2 1945 but Albert served until March 1946. When the war was over his ship was used to pick up soldiers from the islands in the Philippines and bring them back to the states. He earned 2 Battle Stars for Okinawa and Iwo Jima as his ship was deemed fastest at resupplying planes. Both stars remain very important to him.
It’s unclear of the time frame but Albert was also a boxer. It was similar to the Golden Gloves. He was a real contender in his weight class, and won many bouts.
After the war, Albert went to work at Servel Plant during the Korean War making wings for planes. He drove his 1949 green Chevy daily from Schnellville to Evansville.
He met the love of his life at the square in Jasper - the story goes that Doris was there and Albert had waved at her from the back of the car while he was riding with friends. Albert’s version: I was just swatting flies . They married in 1947.
They had 5 kids - 2 girls, 3 boys. Ended with 10 grandkids and 23 great grandkids.
After being laid off from Servel he went to work at Mead Johnson initially as janitorial services and was able to work his way to a supervisor over the tablet room and retired at 60 and moved back to his hometown of Schnellville where they build their “retirement home” on part of the his families original land. After retiring he spent his time with Doris going to Navy Reunions and managing his own garden/orchard and devoting time to Sacred Heart Catholic Church.
He is known for spending fun times with the grandchildren. Some of their memories include picking blueberries in the yard, Albert giving kids rides on Doris’s rollator in the hallways of their home and getting out all of his talking toys- big bass fish, navy singing bear, and assorted singing Christmas toys, all singing at the same time. He is famous for playing with his false teeth and turning napkins into masks during dinner.
Doris passed on Jan 1, 2012 after 64 years of marriage.
Albert now resides in Newburgh Indiana where he spends his time fishing and being with family.
