★★★ Memorial Monday ★★★
LT James Merrill, USN '80 was lost on February 15, 1984 when his TA-4J aircraft crashed between Vieques Island and St. Croix, in the U.S. Virgin Islands. A member of Composite Squadron (VC) 10 at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, he was returning from training operations with the aircraft carriers USS America and USS Saratoga.
James was a native of Kettering, Ohio.
From the Dayton Daily News on February 17, 1984:
Frank Spolrich, assistant principal at Kettering Fairmont High School and an assistant principal at Fairmont West in 1976, the year Merrill graduated, remembered him as "an all-around top-flight, number one-type of kid."
"As you would imagine as a student who had gone to Annapolis, Jim was an outstanding student here for us, placing in the top 10 percent of his class," Spolrich said.
He said Merrill was "very active in sports, particularly football, and did captain the football team during his senior year. In addition, he had been an all-league baseball player and was involved in student government and Fellowship of Christian Athletes at the time."
"I'm really saddened," Spolrich said. "It hurts a lot."
James was survived by his parents and his brother and sister.
To Honor! ⚓
https://usnamemorialhall.org/index.php/JAMES_M._MERRILL,_LT,_USN