A Dover-Foxcroft soldier who died during World War II after being captured in the Philippines was slated to come home Saturday evening, following a long police escort through three states.
U.S. Army Pvt. Willard D. Merrill, 21, 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.
After being captured, 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
The grave was exhumed after the war, and in 1947, officials worked to identify all the remains.
However, the identities of three sets of remains remained unknown and were buried in the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, where they remained until January 2019. They were again exhumed, and scientists were finally able to identify Merrill.
Merrill’s escort back to Dover-Foxcroft on Saturday began at Logan Airport, where the Massachusetts State Police were to provide an escort to the New Hampshire state line.
There, New Hampshire State Police will continue the escort to Maine, where Maine State Police and the Dover-Foxcroft Police Department are set to take over.
The escort is expected to continue north on I-95 to the Newport exit and then along Route 7 to Dover-Foxcroft, where Merrill’s remains will be brought to Lary’s Funeral Home.
The estimated time of arrival in Dover-Foxcroft is 8 p.m. Saturday.
Dover-Foxcroft police advised that those who wanted to pay respects to Merrill and his family stand along South Street between the Chamber of Commerce and Main Street, on the Main Street bridge, and along North Street and Summer Street.
