Raymond J. "Ray" Merritt

Raymond Merritt enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve on July 10, 1947, and was honorably discharged to enter the Aviation Cadet Program of the U.S. Air Force on August 17, 1950. He enlisted in the Air Force on August 18, 1950, and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant and awarded his pilot wings at Williams AFB, Arizona, on March 22, 1952. Lieutenant Merritt then completed F-80 Shooting Star Combat Crew Training before deploying to Korea, where he served as an F-84 Thunderjet pilot with the 7th Fighter-Bomber Squadron from October 1952 to March 1953, followed by service as Assistant Operations Officer with the 49th Fighter-Bomber Group in Korea from March to July 1953. His next assignment was as a gunnery instructor with the 3603rd Combat Crew Training Squadron at Luke AFB, Arizona, from August 1953 to October 1956, and then with the 3513th Combat Crew Training Squadron and the 3510th Combat Crew Training Wing at Randolph AFB, Texas, from October 1956 to September 1958. Captain Merritt then received an Air Force Institute of Technology assignment to complete his bachelor's degree at Texas Tech College from September 1958 to February 1961, followed by service as a staff officer with the Air Force Ballistic Missile Division of Air Research and Development Command at Los Angeles, California, from February 1961 to December 1963. After completing F-105 Thunderchief Combat Crew Training, Major Merritt served as an F-105 pilot with the 67th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Kadena AB, Okinawa, and deployed to Southeast Asia, from May 1964 until he was forced to eject over North Vietnam and was taken as a Prisoner of War on September 16, 1965.