*35 Years of Outstanding Service*
Kenneth J. (Rock) Merritt – Private to Technical Sergeant. Served with distinction in the Hq1 Light Machine Gun Platoon from October 20, 1942 to August 20, 1946.
Rock Merritt retired from the US Army on December 1, 1977, as Command Sergeant Major (CSM), XVIII Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
Rock is the only man to have served two tours as CSM of the XVIII Airborne Corps. Moreover, he is one of the very few soldiers selected to serve thirty-five years in the Army.
Rock Merritt is an exceptionally outstanding example of the “Greatest of the Greatest Generation." Rock was born August 10, 1923 in Warner, Oklahoma. When he was 17 years old, Rock enlisted in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) to help support his family.
The CCC discharged Rock five weeks after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. He immediately went to work building Camp Gruber, OK, and lat-er Camp Hale, CO. Subsequently, Rock was employed in a Naval Ship-yard in California.
In October 1942, Rock decided to join the US Marine Corps. While he was waiting to talk with the Recruiting Sergeant, he noticed a colorful poster on the wall showing a soldier with a submachine gun descending to the ground under a parachute. The poster contained the challenging words “Are You Man Enough to fill these Boots?" That was it! Rock knew that he wanted to be a paratrooper. The Marines lost an outstanding candidate, and Rock started a phenomenal 35-year career in the Army – predominantly in airborne units.
Rock says.
“I was sworn into the Army on October 15, 1942 at Fort Sill, OK and volunteered for airborne training. I was sent to Camp Blanding, Fl.
I was assigned to the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment (508th PIR).
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