Gino J. Merli Veterans Center: Honoring a WWII Hero

The Northeast Veterans Center, established in 1994, was renamed the Gino J. Merli Veterans Center in November 2002. This renaming honored Scranton-born WWII hero Gino Joseph Merli for his exceptional bravery during the Battle of Sars-la-Bruyere in Belgium in 1944. Merli was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1943 and participated in the D-Day invasion and the Battle of the Bulge.

On the night of September 4-5, 1944, during an overwhelming attack, Private First Class Merli continued to operate his machine gun to cover his company's withdrawal after his assistant gunner was killed. He twice feigned death to avoid German soldiers and then resumed fighting. He remained at his weapon throughout the night, and a morning counterattack found him still at his gun when the Germans requested a truce.

Merli's gallantry earned him the Medal of Honor, two Purple Hearts, a Bronze Star, and the Humanitarian Award of the Chapel of Four. After the war, he worked as an adjudication officer for the VA Medical Center. He accompanied Tom Brokaw to Normandy in 1984 and was a significant source of inspiration for Brokaw’s book “The Greatest Generation.”

Gino J. Merli passed away on June 11, 2002, at the age of 78. The Gino J. Merli Veterans Center serves as a lasting tribute to his heroism and dedication to fellow veterans.