MERRILL; HOWARD DEAL

UNITED STATES NAVY
WORLD WAR II
UT
Individual Type Unaccounted For
Rank Ens
Service Number 85057
Location Hawaiian Islands
Date of Loss 12/07/1941
Unit USS Arizona; UNITED STATES NAVY
https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt00000004oJ6EAI

On December 7, 1941, Japanese carrier-based aircraft launched a surprise attack on the U.S. Navy base and ships at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. During the attack, the USS Arizona (BB-39) was struck by eight armor-piercing bombs. One penetrated the Arizona's deck near its No. 2 turret, causing a large explosion that destroyed the forward half of the ship and started a fire that burned for two days. It is thought that most of the Arizona’s crew members died instantly during the explosion. More than 1,100 sailors and Marines were lost along with the ship.

Ensign Howard D. Merrill, who entered the U.S. Navy from Utah, was aboard the Arizona at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was among the men lost with the ship, and his remains were not recovered. Today, Ensign Merrill is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

After Pearl Harbor, the Navy named many ships, particularly destroyer escorts, after ensigns killed on the Arizona. This is the story of Ensign Howard Deal Merrill.

In one of his final letters home, Mr. Merrill wrote, “The salt water is certainly getting into my blood. I’ve never been happier than when I am at sea.”

A shipmate later said that Mr. Merrill was such a good swimmer that he frequently swam out of sight of companions.

He was born Dec. 16, 1918, in Provo, Utah. His mother, Eliza Dottie, died a month later. His father, Leslie, a doctor, remarried when the boy was three.

Mr. Merrill graduated from Ogden High School, then attended Weber College, now Weber State University, in 1935-36. He was then appointed to the U.S. Naval Academy, graduating on June 6, 1940, and commissioned as an ensign.

The academy’s yearbook, the Lucky Bag, wrote this of him: “Howard was one westerner who really didn’t have to go far away to taste salt water. Plebe summer and plebe year were easy for him because he learned quickly that the Commandant’s cat ranked above a plebe. He was a confirmed “Red Mike,” for he found interest in things that never disturbed one’s sleep or studies; he is one of the gifted few that know what to leave alone. Academics were just an easy hurdle to him, with a view of better things yet to come. Hailing from the Rockies, he brought a little of their ruggedness and determination with him. Once Ute makes up his mind, not even dynamite can change it.”

A destroyer escort, the USS Merrill, was launched in August 1943 in Houston. His sister Dorothy was its sponsor.

American Legion Post 9 in Ogden is named Baker-Merrill in honor of Mr. Merrill and another local man, Herman Baker, who died in World War I.

Sources: The Salt Lake City Tribune; the Ogden Standard-Examiner; Weber College newspaper, the Signpost; 1940 Naval Academy yearbook, mother’s death certificate; application for military headstone or grave marker.

https://usnamemorialhall.org/index.php/HOWARD_D._MERRILL,_ENS,_USN

HOWARD DEAL MERRILL

Utah

Howard was one westerner who really didn't have to go far away to taste salt water. Plebe summer and plebe year were easy for him because he learned quickly that the Commandant's cat ranked above a plebe. He was a confirmed "Red Mike," for he found interest in things that never disturbed one's sleep or studies; he is one of the gifted few that know what to leave alone. Academics were just an easy hurdle to him, with a veiw of better things yet to come. Hailing from the Rockies, he brought a little of their ruggedness and determination with him. Once Ute makes up his mind, not even dynamite can change it.

Boat Club; Boxing 4, 3; Excellence in Great Guns; 1 Stripe.

Loss

Howard was lost in USS Arizona (BB 39) during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

His father was listed as next of kin.

Namesake

[USS Merrill (DE 392) Was named for Ensign Howard D. Merrill