A Long Military Career Ends
Major General Chauncey D. Merrill '19 of Milton, Mass., retired as commander of the 94th Infantry Division in June after one of the most distinguished careers in the annals of the Army Reserve. In 42 years of service he held every Army rank from private to major general and was the nation's senior reservist on active duty.
General Merrill, who enlisted in the Army on July 18, 1918, was the only World War I veteran still on active reserve duty. His tour would normally have ended two years ago but was extended by Presidential directive, so that he might undertake the reorganizing of the Massachusetts unit to the so-called Pentomic concept.
Under Merrill's direction the 94th Division became one of the leading reserve units in the nation and is one of the ten top-flight divisions charged with "second-line" support of the regular Army. Merrill is considered by the Army as an outstanding authority on national defense and nuclear warfare.
A native of Skowhegan, Maine, General Merrill entered the College in the fall of 1915. By the summer of 1918, however, the United States was at war and Merrill interrupted his schooling to enlist in the Army. On September 16, 1918 he was commissioned a second lieutenant.
The war came to a close before Merrill was shipped overseas and January of 1919 found him back in Hanover ready to resume his studies. Following graduation he headed west for graduate work at the University of California and for work as a ranger with the U. S. Forest Service. His assignments as a ranger took him to national forests in both California and Arkansas. In 1928 he returned to New England to stay and became a million-dollar insurance man with Equitable Life, with which he holds an executive position today.
Having been a reserve officer since World War I, General Merrill returned to the regular army in 1940 as major, served as operations officer in Iceland and the U. S., and ended the war as colonel. He became regimental commander in the 94th Division in 1947, was promoted to brigadier general in 1955, and in 1957 became division commander.
In an impressive ceremony held at the Boston Army Base on the day of his retirement, General Merrill was presented a special citation by First Army Commander Lieutenant General Edward O'Neill. Some 2,000 of the 94th Division's 8,500 men were present for the ceremonies.
General Merrill was married to Ernestine Austin of Oroville, Calif, in 1924. They have two sons, Willard D. Merrill '49 and William A. Merrill, both in the Marine Corps, and a daughter, Mrs. Lucile Birch, of Milton.
