Sarah Ladd|Courier Journal
George Merz likes to say he was "GPS before GPS was thought of."
That's because when the 95-year-old Louisville native was an Army MPduring World War II, people always asked him for directions.
He served in Normandyin 1944 andin the Battle of the Bulge. He earned a European campaign ribbon with five campaign stars and a Bronze Star. And, according to the Battle of the Bulge Association, Merz also was awarded aFrench Legion of Honor Medalin 2015.
Merz, whostill lives in Louisville, wants to revisit his old battlefields, connect with his war days and visit people he loves around Europe.
Over the past few years, he's been back to Normandy,visited Bastogne, Belgium, and goneto the Netherlands for an event commemorating the 75th anniversaryof Operation Market Garden,a failed Allied attempt to shorten the war by invading Germany through the Netherlands.
He now dreams of going back to Bastognein December for the 75th anniversary of theBattle of the Bulge, which was Germany's last-ditch effort to turn the tide of the war. The Germans surrounded Bastogne, but despite a lack of supplies and bitter cold, American troops refused to surrender the besieged city.
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This will be Merz's final trip.
His good friend and escort Wanda Stump, who's also retired,calls it his "grand finale." He likely won't travel again. It takes too much out of him. On his last trip, Merz was traveling for 24 hours straight. But this trip is worth it to him.
"It is the 75th," Stump said. "The chances of him, or a lot of the other veterans, getting back to Europe for the 80th is probably not going to ever happen."
Merz is part of the "Greatest Generation," a generationhumanity is losing fast. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, WWII veterans on average are91 years old. Forbes reported in 2018 that they'redying at a rate of362 each day.
Onhisprevious trips, Merz was sponsored by Liberty Jump Team. This time, he's responsible for funding himself.Stump, who met him around five years ago and has developed a special bond with him, couldn't let him do it alone.
Stump, who lives in Northern Virginia, started working with veterans because of her uncle, who died in theMarket Garden operation and was buried in the Netherlands. She hoped that by working with WWII veterans, she might come across someone who knew her uncle.
“I was basically reaching out for help, information of my uncle," she said. Butit took on a new meaning. "I fell in love with what I was doing. I fell in love with these veterans.”
Along the way and throughout different countries, Stump said Merz and the other veterans who go on these trips visit schools and see children.
"Some of them have been taught and they've been told about this hero, but to actually meet one and see one and talk to one and touch one. ... It's just overwhelming."
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And Stump isn't alone in her mission to see that side of Merz again.
In Berchem, Belgium (a subdivision of Antwerp),Dominique Van de Straete, 36,is also vying to get Merz back to her country. She'sbeen interested in WWII since childhood thanks to her grandfather's stories ofhelping his family hide and feed Jewish people in the woods near their Belgium homeduring the war.
Van de Straetetold The Courier Journal that when she found out Merz, whom she met in Normandy in June,wanted to get back to Belgium for the Battle of the Bulge anniversary, "My heart just saidIhad to do something. No way George can’t come to Belgium."
"He deserves to be there for the 75th anniversary," she said. "It’ll probably be the last time he will return. He needs to know we still are not forgotten what they did for us. Because of men like George we know what freedom is. They gave up everything to go fight for someone else’s freedom at a very young age."
In 2009, Van de Straeteadopted thegrave of Henry Burkhart, an American WWII veteran buried in Belgium, according to a 2011 article in the Messenger-Inquirer in Owensboro. She traveled to Harlan in 2011 to meet Burkhart's great-nephew and offer the family closure. They hadn't known he was buried.
Van de Straete told the Messenger-Inquirer at that time, "I felt that I wanted to do something for the fallen Americans that, through horrible conditions with no food, cold and snow, fought for our liberation."
Van de Straete has helped maintain veterans' graves, but this is her first time helping a veteran in person, she said.
"We need the veterans here," she told The Courier Journal. "They were the ones who liberated our country. We cannot forget!"
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How you can help
For Stump and Merz to cover airfare, a rental car and food, they need to raise $5,000.The trip is planned for Dec. 11-18, and they're set to accompany a group from Liberty Jump Team.
Stump's been holding yard sales and getting a cookbook fundraiser together, among other things, as she tries to fund Merz's last big trip. She has a long way to go if she wants to fund the trip, but she said, "“Ihave faith God will provide a way!”Van De Straete has also set up a fundraiser.
If you want to help, you can donate through Stump'sGoFundMe atca.gofundme.com/f/wwii-veterans-trip-back-to-battlefield, orVan De Straete's GoFundMe, atgofundme.com/f/ww2-veteran-back-to-belgium.
You can also send Stump a donation through Pay Pal atwjstump@aol.com or mail her a check made out to Lest Never Forget Our Heroes at3690 Russell Road,Woodbridge, VA22192.
Reach breaking news reporter Sarah Ladd at sladd@courier-journal.com. Follow her on Twitter at@ladd_sarah.Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/subscribe.
