First responders pay tribute as WWII vet’s remains escorted across Maine
By Wendy Watkins, Bangor Daily News Staff
Maine residents and first responders saluted as police escorted the remains of WWII Pvt. Willard Merrill from Boston to his hometown of Dover-Foxcroft on Saturday, June 7.
The escort stretched along I-95 from Logan Airport to Newport, where it traveled along Route 7 to Lary Funeral Home, where it arrived shortly after 7 p.m.
Along the way, first responders paid tribute as Merrill’s remains passed by, as captured in images from those in the escort.
Merrill, who was 21 when he died, was among the U.S. and Filipino soldiers captured by the Japanese Imperial Army after the surrender of the Bataan Peninsula on April 9, 1942.
ESCORT — First responders from across the state paused Saturday, June 7, to honor the remains of World War II Army Pvt. Willard D. Merrill as they were escorted back to his hometown of Dover-Foxcroft.
After his capture, Merrill was one of 78,000 prisoners who endured the 65-mile Bataan Death March, which began the next day. Thousands of prisoners died during the march.
Merrill was held at the Cabanatuan POW camp, where he died on Nov. 14, 1942, and was buried in a common grave, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said.
Despite several efforts over the years, his remains were not identified until recently. They were flown back to Logan Airport in Boston on Saturday, where the escort to Dover-Foxcroft began.