MSG (Ret) Vincent Melillo

Retired MSG Vincent Melillo, 97, the last original WW II Merrill’s Marauder in Georgia out of about 40 still living, died Christmas Eve at the Medical Center where he was taken following a heart attack at home.

Visitation will be Jan. 1 at Striffler-Hamby Funeral Home on Macon Rd. from 6 to 8:30 PM, beginning with the Rosary. A memorial service will be held Jan. 2 at 10:30 AM at Ft. Benning’s Infantry Center Chapel next to Gowdy Stadium.

Following the memorial service, Melillo will be transported 142 miles to Milan, Ga., where he will be interred during a military ceremony at Midway United Methodist Church between 3:30 and 4:00 PM. He will be buried beside his late wife, the former Frankie Doris Thompson of Milan, the last of three girls born to Frank Thompson of Eatonton and Alice Mae Walker Thompson of Milan.

Also a Korean War, 5th Regimental Combat Team veteran, Melillo is a member of both the Army Ranger Hall of Fame and Georgia Military Veteran’s Hall of Fame.

Despite his age, Melillo did living history programs throughout Georgia, including FDR’s Little White House, the National Infantry Museum, the Atlanta History Center and WW II Heritage Days along with programs at schools, churches and organizations.

A native of Boonton, NJ, he was the fifth child born to Italian immigrants July 23, 1918. After his mother died from the 1918 flu epidemic when he was three months old, Melillo was reared in Catholic orphanages until being reclaimed around age 11 by the family he didn’t know existed.

He quit school after the seventh grade to become a mason’s helper for his father. He worked for the Works Progress Administration, Civilian Conservation Corps and Boonton Molding Co., before joining the Army in 1940.

After volunteering in 1943 for a secret “dangerous and hazardous mission” expecting more than 85 casualties, he became one of almost 3,000 men later called Merrill’s Marauders after their commander.

Modern-day Army Rangers, the 75th Ranger Regiment honor their legacy by wearing the Merrill’s Marauder patch as their crest. Camp Frank D. Merrill in Dahlonega, GA, is named after their commander.

After the Burma campaign, Melillo was assigned to Camp Wheeler near Macon, where he met his wife, who was managing the canteen there. The couple were married at St. Joseph’s Cathedral March 1, 1945, and had two children, Jonnie Melillo Clasen of Columbus, and the late Vincent Franklin of Columbus.

During his almost 21 years in the Army, Melillo traveled throughout the world with his family. He retired a second time in 1984 as an inspector in Small Arms Weapons Repair at Ft. Benning.

An active golfer through age 95, Melillo made his only hole-in-hole at Ft. Benning’s Follow Me Golf Course right before his 89th birthday. Only days before his death, he entertained friends by “playing the bones” and singing some of the hundreds of songs and “ditties” that he knew.

He was a long-time member of the Frank Chester Senior Center in Columbus, where he daily said grace. He was also a long-time member of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, the Knight’s of Columbus, the Veteran’s of Foreign Wars and numerous military associations.

He is survived by a daughter, Jonnie Melillo Clasen, Columbus, GA; grandson, D. Michael Clasen II of Reno, NV; nephews Terry W. Ellis and Clayton Ellis and niece Brenda Ellis Eubanks of Atlanta; Dana Cravey of Columbus; a sister Theresa D’Aconti, Middlesex, NJ, and her family; plus nieces Marie Tosti and Joyce Getchus, NJ, and their families; along with a niece Lil Kavanaugh from Atherton, Calif., and her family. Others include Donna Pedder, Steve Smith and Clete Smith, Jacksonville, FL; plus Darcy and Ann Clasen, New Iberia, LA, and their family alongwith many wonderful friends.