Dear Sirs; I am the only grandaughter of Lt. Col. Gyles Merrill, of the 26th Cavalry.  I am searching for any information regarding him, good or bad!  I never met him, and my own father, Cushing Jack Merrill (Gyle's only son) passed away when I was 11, so I have not even been able to find out when and where my grandfather passed away.  Please email me at millerfarm@earthlink.net
Thank you, Carol Merrill Miller

My book, "Bataan Diary," will be out in October, and it contains a good deal of information about Colonel Gyles Merrill during the war.  Most of the information in the book came from documents found at the Indiana Historical Society, the National Archives, and the MacArthur Memorial; and from interviews.  Send me an e-mail (ccsch@ix.netcom.com) and I will be sure you get a copy of "Bataan Diary" as soon as it is available.

Colonel Gyles Merrill escaped from the Death March and was taken to Fassoth's camp.  As more people came into the camp he struck off on his own and hid for a time in the fishponds at the north end of Manila Bay, where he was joined by several other American escapees.  Eventually, he ordered all of the officers in Fassoth's camp to come join him--some did, but others went their own way.

He stayed for a while at the Jingco plantation near Natividad, Pampanga, and was in contact with Colonel Claude Thorp.  On Sept. 1, 1942, he, his officers, and one private moved back into the jungle on the west side of the Zambales Mountains where they remained for most of the war.  In 1943 he made contact with the Chinese underground in Manila, apparently through Captain Ramon Magsaysay.  Early in 1944 he was briefly in contact with Colonel Marcario Peralta's guerrillas on Panay.

As MacArthur's forces approached the Philippines late in 1944, Colonel Merrill sent out notices to Americans he knew of who commanded guerrilla forces, and ordered them all to come to his headquarters for a planning meeting.  These various leaders, including Lapham, Major Edwin Ramsey, Major Bernard Anderson, and others who had been on their own for three years, refused to recognize Colonel Merrill's authority, leading to several personal disagreements as you might imagine.  Capt. Magsaysay, however, continued to work under Colonel Merrill, and his men effectively drove the Japanese garrisons off the Zambales coast before MacArthur's 11th Corps landed there.  Once the Philippines were liberated, Colonel Merrill recommended that Magsaysay be appointed provisional governor of Zamabales.  Magsaysay later became President of the Philippines.  Colonel Merrill, as far as I know, returned to the U.S. and retired.  I would certainly be interested in any additional information you might have, or be able to locate, about him.

Mr. Schaefer,
I posted my last response before I realized another response had been posted.  To have found a source like yours that is unquestionably honest and straighforward is exactly what I had been hoping for.  I know that my grandfather must have been an extremely autocratic individual, from the scarce personal knowledge my brother and I were passed on, my own father left home at 16 because of the extreme strictness of my grandfather.  But whatever the history is, it is facinating to my brother and I.  I would be happy to share information with you, I will be alerting my brother to also respond because he does have some more information.
I would be honored to read your book.

Carol Merrill Miller

Hi, Debbie.

If you have not read it already, get a copy of my book "Bataan Diary," published in 2004.  There is a good deal of information on Col. Merrill, beginning with the Death March.  It is available for the Kindle reader, at Amazon.com.