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Mertz, John, EM2.
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Contact Info
Home Town Ft. Dodge
Last Address SHAKOPEE, MN
Date of Passing Jul 03, 2015
Location of Interment Fort Snelling National Cemetery (VA) - Minneapolis, Minnesota
World War II/Asiatic-Pacific Theater/Southern Philippines Campaign (1945)
From Month/Year
February / 1945
To Month/Year
July / 1945
Description On 10 March 1945, the U.S. Eighth Army—under Lt. Gen. Robert L. Eichelberger—was formally ordered by Gen. Douglas MacArthur to clear the rest of Mindanao, with the start of Operation VICTOR V, with expectations that the campaign would take four months. Eichelberger had misgivings about the projected timetable for the operation, but nonetheless, his Eighth Army staffers came up with a more effective plan.
Instead of the expected headlong frontal assault on the Japanese defenses, the plan called for securing a beachhead at Illana Bay in the undefended west, then a drive eastward more than a 100 mi (160 km) through jungle and mountains to strike from the rear. The objective, which called for achieving surprise and pressing forward quickly and aggressively by the invading forces, deemed Eichelberger, could unhinge the Japanese both physically and psychologically. The key to the operation's success involved the beachhead performance of the landing force and the ability of the participating units to maintain the momentum of their attack, preempting Japanese reactions, and hopefully before the rainy season started which would complicate movement in the island.
Ground operations were assigned to X Corps under Maj. Gen. Franklin C. Sibert, with Maj. Gen. Roscoe B. Woodruff's 24th Infantry Division and Maj. Gen. Clarence A. Martin's 31st Infantry Division as principal combat units. Amphibious Task Group 78.2 (TG 78.2)—under Rear Adm. Albert G. Noble—was tasked to carry the 24th Division and X Corps headquarters to the assault beaches near Malabang by 17 April to secure a forward airfield. Five days later, the 31st Division was expected to be in Parang, 20 mi (32 km) south, located near Highway 1, the route to Davao.
.png?ixlib=java-2.3.0&w=100&s=c49280a91b79826dbff47dc198f1bbf0 "Honorable Discharge Emblem (WWII)")
.png?ixlib=java-2.3.0&w=100&s=4cabb16c4bb63567ecc81f2bec05c4b6 "Did the Ditch (Suez Canal)")
.png?ixlib=java-2.3.0&w=100&s=0cb147133885c62667d8969c50b66659 "Order of the Ditch (Panama Canal)")
