George Merz was born February 23, 1925. He enlisting in the Army in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, on May 12, 1943. George set out for Europe from Boston harbor on February 25, 1944. Landing in Normandy during the D-Day invasion, his campaign advanced through Brittany and the Brest Peninsula, eventually marching through Paris on the way to Bastogne. He serving with the 818th Military Police Company, most famous as the MP unit tasked with investigating the tragic auto accident that claimed the life of General George Patton in 1945. Finishing the war in Zullenroda, Germany, he was discharged on January 25, 1946.
His decorations include a European campaign ribbon with five campaign stars and the Bronze Star Medal.
A lifelong resident of Louisville, he retired after a 40-year career in the aluminum industry with Reynolds Metals and ALCOA.

"I tried to get in when I was 17. I wanted to get in the Air Corps, because I was enjoying a lot of model airplane building and had a recommendation from a lot of people. But instead, I wound up getting drafted and went into the military police and took my training in Washington State. From there, we came across the waters of the North Atlantic, landed in England and from England, across to Normandy down to Brest and then up to the Battle of the Bulge, and that's where I ended up. I was there before, during and after as a member of the 8th Army Corps,
818th Military Police Company."