Lt. Colonel Ehud "Ed" Merkel

Lt. Colonel Ehud (Ed) Merkel, United States Air Force, Retired, 90, passed away Tuesday, February 22, 2011 at his Palm Springs, Florida home following a brief illness. Lt. Colonel Merkel was born August 30, 1920 in Java, South Dakota to the late Jacob & Katherine (Rueb) Merkel and moved to the West Palm Beach area in 1961 from Spokane, Washington. He served in the 91st Bomb Group, 323rd Squadron, Kolts Crew and was the Co-Pilot of the “Paper Dolly”. The Paper Dolly was shot down 22 February 1944 on their 16th mission. Their target was Oschersleben, Germany and the plane went down at Kurkenbruch, Germany. He was a Prisoner of War for almost 2 years at Stalag Luft 1. Lt. Colonel Merkel said “The mission to Oschersleben-Bunde was a wild one right from the start. The mission cost us 41 bombers and 400 crewmen. Missions records show, we were hit with more than 400 German fighters, mostly head on attacks by BF 109s and BF 110s. When the fighter attacks started, our bomber took several head on hits ripping open the nose and destroying two engines. Then the cables to the rudder and elevators were severed. A roaring oxygen fire started in the radio room. Machine gun ammunition was popping in the radio room and waist gunner area. When I bailed out through one partially open bomber door, our bomber broke in two at the radio room just as I rolled out. I landed near where the front of our bomber landed at Kukenbruch.” Lt. Colonel Merkel is survived by his loving wife of 19 years, Helen (Downs) Merkel of Palm Springs; son, Gary L. Merkel of California; daughters, Janet (Paul) Cunningham of West Palm Beach; Judy Rae (Tom) Ferguson of Lexington, Kentucky; 5 grandchildren; step-children, Tom (Karen) Clark of Lake Worth; William (Pam) Clark of Gilford, New Hampshire; David (Tammy) Clark of West Palm Beach; Lyn (Tim) Gills of West Palm Beach; 5 step-grandchildren and 2 step-great-grandchildren. A Gathering of family and friends will be 2:00 – 4:00 pm Saturday, February 26, 2011 at TILLMAN FUNERAL HOME, 2170 South Military Trail, West Palm Beach. Graveside inurnment will be 11:00 am, Friday March 4, 2011 at South Florida National Cemetery, Lake Worth with the United States Air Force providing military honors. In lieu of flowers the family has asked that memorial donations be made to the Disabled American Veterans, Hospice of Palm Beach County or to a charity of your choice.