Merton B. Myers

Merton Bernell Myers
Born	January 15, 1921(1921-01-15) Long Island City, Queens, New York
Died	March 10, 1943(1943-03-10) (aged 22) South Atlantic Ocean
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Navy
Years of service	1939-1943
Rank	Machinist's Mate First Class
Unit	USS Eberle (DD-430)
Battles/wars	World War II Battle of the Atlantic
Awards	Silver Star

Merton B. Myers (1921–1943) was a United States Navy sailor killed in action during World War II who received a posthumous Silver Star for his actions.

Biography

Merton Bernell Myers was born at Long Island City in Queens, New York, on January 15, 1921. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy on August 23, 1939 at Indianapolis, Indiana.^[1]

As a machinist's mate first class, Myers was serving in the destroyer USS Eberle (DD-430) in the South Atlantic Ocean when on March 10, 1943 Eberle intercepted the German blockade runner boarding party which valiantly tried to save Karin from demolition charges set by her crew. All efforts were to no avail; after helping his shipmates to escape the sinking death trap, Myers was killed in a violent explosion.

Awards

For his gallant sacrifice in the boarding of Karin, Myers was awarded the Silver Star posthumously.

Namesake

The U.S. Navy destroyer escort USS Myers (DE-595) was named for Machinist' Mate First Class Myers. She was converted during construction into the high-speed transport USS Myers (APD-105), and was in commission as such from 1945 to `1947.

See also

	United States Navy portal
	World War II portal

Notes

1. ^ The Dictionary of Naval Fighting Ships provides identical birth dates and locations and identical enlistment dates and locations for both William J. Pattison (at http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/w8/william_j_pattison.htm) and Merton B. Myers (at http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/m16/myers.htm), both of whom died at the same time in the Karin boarding attempt. This almost impossible coincidence in both date and place of birth, of enlistment, and of death in action suggests that the Dictionary of Naval Fighting Ships is in error concerning some or all of this information for one or both men. Other sources merely repeat the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships entries and are of no assistance in clearing up the matter.

References

• This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

Persondata
Name	Myers, Merton B.
Alternative names
Short description	United States Navy Silver Star recipient
Date of birth	January 15, 1921
Place of birth	Long Island City, Queens, New York
Date of death	March 10, 1943
Place of death	South Atlantic Ocean