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Merton Singer, beloved husband, father and grandfather passed away on Monday, July 28, 2003 in San Antonio, Texas.
He was born 21 August 1913, in Superior, Wisconsin to Samuel and Lena Singer.
rom the time he was 9 years old he helped his family through difficult times, carrying a paper route, working in a grocery store and shining shoes.
He was determined to become well educated and find more in the world than his little hometown of Superior offered.
He was industrious, honest, and loyal to friends and family.
He attended the University of Wisconsin 1931-34. In 1933 he received an appointment to the U. S. Naval Academy but was denied entrance because of defective color perception.
Never one to accept defeat, he tried the U. S. Military Academy, competing for Senator F. Ryan Duffy’s appointment along with 250 others.
He won the appointment and entered with the class of ’38.
On graduation he was commissioned in the Infantry and assigned to K Co., 23rd infantry, 2nd Infantry Division, Ft. Sam Houston, Texas.
There he met and married the former Jean Eidelberg on 19 October 1941.
During World War II he was assigned to the European Theater of Operations as Deputy Ordnance Officer, HQ VIII Army Corps, landing on Utah Beach in the D-Day Invasion, and he fought all the way to the Elbe River, where allied forces rendezvoused with the Russians.
He was awarded the ETO Ribbon and 5 Bronze Campaign Stars for participation in the Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes, Alsace and Central Europe campaigns.
He was on the way to the Philippines to participate in the invasion of Honshu (Operation Olympic) when President.
Truman ordered dropping the 2 atomic bombs that ended WWII.
After the war, he received his Master of Science in petroleum engineering at the University of Pittsburgh in 1947, and was a postgraduate of the Wharton Graduate School of Business U. of Pennsylvania 1954-55.
Mert, through months of research, developed and patented a device called the Geoguide, a handheld reference tool which shows all of the major oil formations and their geologic timetables around the world.
It is still used by many oil companies and oil field service personnel to this day.
Decorations: Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, Army Commendation Medal; ETO Ribbon with Silver Star (i.e. 5 campaigns); WWII Victory Medal; Army of Occupation Medal with German clasp; National Defense Service Medal; National Military Establishment Identification Badge; French Croix de Guerre with Palm 1944 signed by DeGaulle; Order of the Black Star (France) 1960, a rare medal given only to foreigners for distinguished service to the French government, personally presented by Charles DeGaulle; Decoration of Distinguished Civilian Services; Secretary of the Army (1989); Certificate of Appreciation for Patriotic Civilian Service, Dept. of the Army, March 1989; Royal Yugoslav Commemorative War Cross from Peter II, King of Yugoslavia.
Listed in “Who’s Who in America”, “Who’s Who in the World”, “Who’s Who in the South & Southwest”, “Who’s Who in Science and Engineering” and “Who’s Who in Finance and Industry”.
Other assignments include Army-Navy Petroleum Board, Joint Chief of Staff 1947-49; Army Member Pacific Command Petroleum Officer, Staff Commander-in-Chief Pacific & Pacific Fleet, Oahu, Hawaii, 1949-53.
He invented and implemented a system of automatic re-supply of petroleum during the Korean War.
This system is still in use by many large U.S. companies.
Professor of Military Science and Tactics, U. Of Penn 1953-56; then to Fontainebleau, France where he built & operated the U.S. Army petroleum pipeline across France and Germany.
From France he was sent to Ft. Jay, Governors Island, New York to be 1st Army Quartermaster, and was then advanced to Post Commander.
He retired from the Army in 1965 and accepted a job as V.P. and Assistant to the President, United Board and Carton Co.
From 1970 to 1989 he was Executive Director, Research & Development Associates for military food and packaging systems.
In 1989 he established his own company, the S. L. Crow Company, and has been CEO until present time.
Always thoughtful and eager to provide help when needed, while in France, he assisted Father Leratrif in Yvres in re-casting the church bell which was cracked when too vigorously rung on VE day, and which had not been used for, at that time, nearly 20 years.
Mert’s name is cast in the bell, which hangs in the Catholic Church belfry.
This was one of the many things he did to improve Franco-American relationships.
As a plebe in 1934 he organized the 1st Jewish services ever conducted at West Point.
In 1967 he received permission from the Superintendent, General Donald V. Bennett, to build a Jewish cadet chapel at West Point.
He became the first chairman of the fund raising committee to raise funds for the design and construction of the chapel and he hand selected the original board.
From the time Mert graduated from West Point he contributed to his alma mater in a myriad of ways.
As President, West Point Society N.Y. for 3-1/2 years and as a member of the board of trustees of the Association of Graduates for 7 years, he staged what became known as the Illustrious Graduates Dinner in NYC in 1968.
The purpose of the dinner was to call the attention of the nation to the value of a West Point education and the appeal of an Army career.
Mert sat on the dais with President Eisenhower, Bob Hope and other distinguished graduates.
The event attracted major attention from the media and increased dramatically the number of young men seeking West Point appointments.
To improve Army football, Mert staged the Army All-American Football Luncheon to raise money for scholarships for prospective Army football players in need of 1 year of seasoning before entering West Point.
22 previous Army All-Americans from all over the world attended the luncheon at their own expense. Mert was instrumental in getting Sylvanus Thayer, the Father of the Military Academy, inducted into the hall of fame for great Americans.
To this day, Thayer’s bust stands at Columbia University.
Proud of having served in the army, he believed in and lived by “Duty, Honor, Country,” never shirking a duty and never believing that anything was impossible.
A kind and gentle man always ready to lend a helping hand he will be sorely missed by his loving wife Jean of 61 years, his sons Stephen (class of ’66 USMA), Robert (B.A. degree U. of Pennsylvania, LLD U. of Texas Law School), his grandchildren, Devra and Michael Singer, his sister Beverly Rose, nieces & nephews, and a host of caring friends worldwide.
Mert never hesitated to help a friend or anyone who needed assistance or guidance.
He was responsible for helping to get many young people into colleges and universities, as well as West Point.
He has left a heritage of kindness, generosity and love to his family and friends.
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