Isaac Mercer - Korean War

Caption
Isaac Mercer posing, in the middle, with some buddies at the AAA Baseball Camp in Roberts, California in 1952.

Where:
Camp in Roberts, California

When:
1952

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption
Isaac Mercer (left) writes home at the end of July, 1953, following the cease-fire in Korea. They called their temporary home the ‘Conrad Hilton.’

Where:
Unknown

When:
July, 1953

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption
Isaac Mercer (left) with a buddy photographed behind the lines in July 1953, following the ceasefire.

Where:
Unknown

When:
July 1953

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption
Photographed at the unit’s base camp in late July 1953, Isaac Mercer (in the center) receives U.S. Korean Service Medal.

Where:
Unknown

When:
late July, 1953

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption
In August 1953, Isaac Mercer is awarded the Good Conduct Medal at the unit’s camp, south of Seoul.

Where:
south of Seoul

When:
August, 1953

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption
Isaac Mercer sits down to pen a letter home in the unit’s Quonset hut in early August 1953. Pictured with him are several of the unit’s NCOs.

Where:
Unknown

When:
early August, 1953

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption
Isaac Mercer (on the left) in the CQ quarters in 1953.

Where:
Unknown

When:
1953

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption
“At last,” Mercer remarked, they had “sleeping tents instead of fox holes and trenches; our Conrad Hilton.”

Where:
Unknown

When:
Unknown

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption
Isaac Mercer, on the right, writes home from his Quonset hut dining room after the ceasefire in July, 1953.

Where:
Unknown

When:
July, 1953

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption
Keeping in touch with his family, Isaac Mercer writes home while at the unit’s base camp south of Seoul, in August, 1953. Mail call was an important event for the troops.

Where:
south of Seoul

When:
August, 1953

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption
In August 1953, Isaac Mercer received the Korean Presidential Unit Citation Medal.

Where:
Unknown

When:
August, 1953

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption
Isaac Mercer received the Bronze Star Medal for valor, in Sep 1953. Mercer displayed courage and heroism on July 16, 1953, as his unit defended an outpost during a mortar and artillery barrage against enemy troops who had infiltrated the trenches.

Where:
Unknown

When:
September, 1953

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption
Bronze Star Medal for heroic achievement in connection with military operations against armed enemy. Instrumental in saving the lives of several of his comrades.

Where:
Unknown

When:
Unknown

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption
On November 18, 1953, the night before Isaac shipped out of Korea, he attended a party given in his honor. Included in the photo are Lieutenants Kelly and Gerke, to Kelly’s left. Mercer is in the front, left.

Where:
Unknown

When:
November 18, 1953

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption
Isaac Mercer is pictured with his wife, Earlene Mercer in 2008 while they attended a service at the Macedonia Baptist Church in Rockford, officiated by their son Michael. The two were married on July 19, 1951.

Where:
Macedonia Baptist Church in Rockford, Illinois

When:
2008

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo