Veteran honored with flagpole: Mero's service did not end with enlistment
According to Mero's bio submitted for North Country Honor Flight in 2022, he served in the U.S. Army from 1979 to 1992 in the Desert Shield and Desert Storm operations.
'With the 2nd Combat Army Regiment, Keith realized if trouble started this group would be the first to respond,' the bio read. 'When they were not in the field, they increased their training to be fully prepared. Keith was assigned to the Prisoner of War Team working with Military Personnel and Interrogators. As the first in battle, the Team policed all foot soldiers near the tanks. In constant contact with the commander, their mission was to capture the enemy. Some enemy soldiers laid down their weapons and those who continued to fight lost their lives. The Team processed 2,000 enemies with a sad casualty loss of one Team member.'
'This is dedicated to your service to see that all of those who served under you returned home,' Ceremony emcee Danny Kaifetz said.
The flagpole was then erected and Mero had the honor of raising the first flag.
Mero responded to the honor being bestowed to him by saying, 'I love you all, every one of you. Thank you.'
Keith's youngest son, John, spoke lovingly and with great respect for his father.
'I remember the places we traveled and the things we saw,' John said.
Keith persuaded his sons not to follow in his footsteps.
'I realized it was not all good, and you wanted to spare me the sacrifices,' John said.
John related the many things his father did for the community such as drive Veterans to the VA for services and initiating the Hometown Heroes banner program for Moriah.
Mero had also been a member of the Veterans of the North Motorcycle Association. On one occasion when the group was called upon to show support for a Veteran, he indicated he was not feeling too well, but went anyway. Two days later he had open heart surgery.
Keith's dedication towards others was reinforced by former Moriah Town Supervisor Tom Scozzafava. 'Keith came to my office and told me they planned on having 50 to 75 banners for Hometown Heroes. All we had to do was put up the brackets and hang them. Well, we have about 400; the most of any town in Essex County.'
At the conclusion, Mero received commendations from Essex County and Adjacent General of NY State Major General Raymond F. Shields. This included the Medal of Merit, a state-level military award presented for exceptionally meritorious service or for heroism by military personnel or Veterans.
In 1917 President Woodrow Wilson gave, in part, the following speech which was recited at the ceremony for Mero. 'We meet to celebrate Flag Day because this flag which we honor and under which we serve is the emblem of our unity, our power, our thought and purpose as a nation. It has no other character than that which we give it from generation to generation. The choices are ours. It floats in majestic silence above the hosts that execute those choices, whether in peace or in war. and yet, though silent, it speaks to us. —speaks to us of the past, of the men and women who went before us and of the records they wrote upon it.'
The American Heroes Flagpole Association, founded by Danny Kaifetz, himself a U.S. Marine Veteran, is based in Owl's Head, NY. They award hand-crafted 25 foot Northern red oak flagpoles to combat wounded, combat disabled and combat decorated Veterans throughout the Northeast at no cost.
On his website Kaifetz said, 'These donations and the accompanying ceremonies, the honor so long overlooked for so many who sacrificed greatly for our freedom, have led to the most rewarding moments of my career.'
According to Kaifetz, 'I am now finally in a position to refocus the purpose of my work and my goals in life. With a small group of outstanding officers and other veterans we have created the American Heroes Foundation with one purpose only, to honor great American heroes for their service and sacrifice.'
For those interested in submitting the name of a deserving Veteran, donating, or to order a flagpole go to: info@AmericanHeroesFlagpoles.com.
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National Geographic
13 hours ago
- National Geographic
80 years later, you can still see the shadow of a Hiroshima bomb victim
In the wake of the blast, these eerie shadows were left etched into surfaces across the city—almost like a photo negative of those who were lost. When the atomic bomb detonated over Hiroshima, it left behind haunting reminders of people who died in the August 1945 blast. Whoever stood on the steps of Sumitomo Bank at the time of the blast created a shield of sorts against the radiant light and heat that bleached everything in its path. Photograph by Universal History Archive, UniversalIt was business as usual in the morning of August 6, 1945, in Hiroshima, Japan. In the city's financial district, bankers prepared for the day and customers queued up to deposit money or apply for a loan. At 8:15 a.m., someone was either standing or sitting on the steps of Sumitomo Bank when the Enola Gay, a U.S. Army Air Force plane, flew overhead and dropped an atomic bomb that detonated 1,900 feet above the city. Aerial view of the first atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945. The Enola Gay dropped the bomb 1,900 feet over the city—unleashing an explosion of intense heat, light, and radiation that washed over the city in a fraction of a second. Photograph Courtesy U.S. Army, A.A.F. photo, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division This official U.S. Army photo shows the devastation in Hiroshima after the bomb. The explosion killed upwards of 80,000 people in a flash and thousands more would die in the subsequent days and months. Photograph Courtesy U.S. Army, Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division That person likely died immediately, as the intense heat at the center of the blast would have been in excess of 7,000 degrees Fahrenheit, hot enough to swiftly kill anyone. But a shadowy imprint of their body was left scorched onto the stone steps. And this mark wasn't alone: The intensity of the bomb created so-called nuclear shadows throughout the area on the ground beneath the explosion, as if freezing the city in time. Now, 80 years after the bomb, Hiroshima's nuclear shadows remain a chilling, poignant testament to one of the most consequential days in human history. The 10,000-pound atomic bomb that detonated over Hiroshima unleashed a massive amount of energy—the equivalent of around 15,000 tons of TNT—in a fraction of a second. That energy took the form of several things: light, heat, radiation, and pressure. The explosion's intense heat washed over Hiroshima at a pace of 186,000 miles per second and was over as quickly as it had begun, according to the United States Strategic Bombing Survey, an official report on the effects of the bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The explosion had flash-burned everything within 9,500 feet, charring trees and casting UV light so powerful that it bleached non-combustible surfaces like stone and concrete. This process is what created the nuclear shadows—they aren't the remains of people and things that were destroyed in the blast but rather they were etched like a photo negative in places that had been protected from the destructive path of radiant heat and light. Sumitomo Bank, only 260 meters from the bomb's hypocenter, was one of about 70,000 buildings in Hiroshima that the bomb damaged or obliterated. '[The bank's] reinforced concrete outer walls remained, but most of the interior was completely burned out,' says Ariyuki Fukushima, curator at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. And while the bank's granite steps retained their shape, Fukushima points out that 'the intense heat rays from the atomic bomb caused them to become pale and discolored.' The person who had been on the steps during the explosion shielded a section of them from the heat rays, thus creating the shadow. The same process created shadows of nails, ladders, and other objects on streets and buildings across the city. What Hiroshima's nuclear shadows reveal While most of the nuclear shadows depict inanimate objects, a few of them are believed to represent people who were killed. For example, the Yorozuyo Bridge, 910 meters from the hypocenter, appeared to bear shadows of people who may have been on their way to work or school when they were killed. (The shadows are no longer visible on the bridge, which was later rebuilt.) 'Almost everyone who was within a kilometer was killed,' says Robert Jacobs, emeritus professor of history at the Hiroshima Peace Institute and Hiroshima City University. The shadow of a handle on a gasometer located two kilometers away from the hypocenter of the explosion left an imprint behind. The angle of the nuclear shadows left behind allow scientists who arrived in Hiroshima after Japan's surrender to locate the hypocenter of the explosion. Photograph by AFP, Getty Images The explosion killed upwards of 80,000 people in a flash, and thousands more would die in the subsequent days and months. Among the victims were workers inside Sumitomo Bank. Fukushima notes that only 'three individuals are known to have escaped,' though 'one of them died a few days later.' These shadows also helped scientists solve one major question when they descended on Hiroshima in early September 1945, shortly after Japan's surrender, to study the weapon's effects. The angle of the shadows 'enabled observers to determine the direction toward the center of explosion,' allowing them to locate the bomb's hypocenter 'with considerable accuracy.' The legacy of Hiroshima's nuclear shadows Although we'll never know the stories of those who were killed in the bomb's hypocenter, their shadow endures. In 1971, Sumitomo Bank donated its steps to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, where the silhouette remains a haunting symbol of what happened 80 years ago. It is believed to be one of the only remaining nuclear shadows of a person. Indeed, many of the shadows no longer exist given the decades of rebuilding that the city had to do in the wake of the bombing. Still, Jacobs says the shadows remind us of 'the impermanence of humans and civilization.' 'If a person could be reduced to their shadow by a weapon, […] that carries a profoundly existential message to human beings—you and your whole world could be gone in the blink of an eye.' The shadows are also a solemn reminder of the horrors people faced that day in Hiroshima. The white shadow of a man remains on the surface of a bridge in Hiroshima. As the city rebuilt after the bombing, many of the nuclear shadows on its buildings and sidewalks were lost. One famous exception are the Sumitomo Bank steps, which were donated to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. Photograph by Keystone-France, Gamma-Keystone/ Getty Images While walking through the ruined city minutes after the bombing, photographer Yoshito Matsushige encountered children who had evacuated their school just before the explosion. 'Having been directly exposed to the heat rays, they were covered with blisters, the size of balls, on their backs, their faces, their shoulders and their arms,' he later recalled. 'The blisters were starting to burst open and their skin hung down like rugs.' These scenes were so horrific that Matsushige couldn't bear to take any photographs. When he 'finally summoned up the courage to take one picture' and then another, he realized 'the view finder was clouded over with my tears.'
USA Today
19-07-2025
- USA Today
Would you go into debt for your pet? Some couples are.
How far would you go to care for your pet? For some, the cuddles, comfort, and joy they bring are worth going into debt. It's particularly true for 'DINK' couples – those with a dual income and no kids – 94% of whom view their pets as family members, according to a new Insurify survey. Some 68% of these pet parents say they've made financial sacrifices to cover essentials for their furry friends. From taking a second job to stopping savings contributions to skipping medical care for themselves, DINK couples are willing to go a long way for their pets. Kenzie Mollock and Wiley Garren, two married 29-year-olds living in Texas, consider their two-and-a-half-year-old miniature schnauzer mix family. They named her 'Hazelnut Frappuccino Whip Cream Paws,' or 'Hazel' for short. Mollock is a teacher and Garren serves in the U.S. Army. They described their salaries as 'not huge,' but they always make room in the budget for Hazel. 'When I'm happy, she's there. When I'm sad, she's there,' Mollock said. 'Even if my husband's not here because he's at work and he's deployed, my dog is there. And she's happy to see me every time.' More: Owning a pet isn't easy. But these species can make it a little easier How much do DINK couples spend on pets? DINK couples surveyed spend an average of $1,906 per year on their pets; a fraction of the $23,000 parents spent raising a child last year, according to a SoFi report. The most common pet-related monthly costs for these couples are food, treats, and toys. Vet care, medication, and groomers are other common monthly expenses. However, an unexpected vet visit can quickly throw a wrench in pet parents' budgets. The highest vet bill those surveyed have paid is about $1,449, but 13% said they had spent more than $3,000. While that may seem like a lot, DINK pet parents say they would be willing to spend more. Those surveyed said they would spend up to $5,004 for lifesaving treatment and $2,835 per year to care for a pet's chronic health condition. Even that may not be enough. Dr. Amy Fox, a veterinarian at Kinship said she has worked in several specialized animal hospitals where bills sometimes exceeded $10,000 after pets experienced accidents or had severe health conditions. "This can put pet parents in a difficult position when their pet has an unexpected emergency and is another very important reminder to have pet insurance or set up an emergency savings fund for your pets," Fox told USA TODAY. Whatever the cost, some pet owners seem willing to find a way to pay. 'I don't think there is a cap or a limit because you can just finance and pay it off slowly,' Mollock said. What luxury pet items are people buying? It can also be difficult to stick to a budget when your pet is giving you puppy dog eyes. Only 11% of those surveyed said they never splurge on their furry friends. About 20% said they rarely buy non-essentials, 43% said they occasionally splurge, and 26% said they regularly spoil their pets. Some of the most popular luxury items DINK couples buy for their pets include vitamins or supplements, luxury treats, gourmet or organic fresh food. High-end toys and clothing or accessories are also common splurges. Mollock and Garren buy Hazel a salmon-and-rice-flavored dry food for dogs with sensitive skin and stomachs, tick and flea medication, and special bags she can sit in when they run errands or go hiking. They also buy her enrichment toys. 'We usually get her these puzzle boxes, and they can get a little bit expensive. She's so smart and inquisitive,' Mollock said. 'Then you are just kind of buying the next one and the next one. She's outsmarted them all.' What are DINK owners sacrificing for their pets? Even if DINK couples aren't splurging on organic food or outfits for their animals, pet-related expenses can put a dent in their budgets. While 32% said they had never made financial sacrifices for a pet, 34% said they worked extra hours or took a second job to cover costs and 33% said they took on credit card or loan debt. The poll also found 29% stopped contributing to savings, 24% delayed paying other bills, and 15% skipped personal medical care. 'Human relationships with cats and dogs have drastically shifted, with a growing focus on animal welfare over the past several decades,' Julia Taliesin, data journalist at Insurify, told USA TODAY. 'Pet owners care for their pets on a personal level, making it easier for them to excuse splurges for the sake of their pet's welfare.' Some sacrifices are hard to measure, like the time spent training a dog to stop begging for food or from chewing through another pair of shoes. And training doesn't always end when puppies or kittens grow up. As they get older, their personalities can change and issues can arise. Dr. Valli Parthasarathy, another veterinarian at Kinship, advises owners be prepared for unwanted behaviors to start at any age and work with a vet or experienced trainer when they do. Do pets replace children for DINK couples? While 'fur babies' are a welcome addition to the family, 39% of DINK pet owners surveyed said they do plan on having children someday. But 17% said raising children is too expensive to ever have them and 15% said they never wanted to have kids. Some 29% said they prefer a lifestyle that allows for more freedom. Of those surveyed, 22% said they need to improve their financial situation before having children, and 5% cited medical or fertility issues as the reason they don't have kids. For Mollock and Garren, having kids isn't a priority right now. 'We're still trying to find our way in life,' Garren said. 'We need to bring a kid into an environment where we have more things figured out than less.' In the meantime, Hazel is 'something to take care of, similar to a baby,' he said. 'We consider her family.' Reach Rachel Barber at rbarber@ and follow her on X @rachelbarber_
San Francisco Chronicle
12-07-2025
- San Francisco Chronicle
‘Carrying the torch': WWII soldier who died in prison camp in Philippines identified, buried in S.F.
During a routine visit to his parents' home in San Jose this past November, Eric Ulrich began to tackle a mound of mail, boxes and old packages that had accumulated over the past few weeks. As he sorted through a pile stacked high of envelopes and loose paper, Ulrich came across a FedEx package labeled with a return address from Fort Knox, Ky. 'U.S. Army,' read the envelope addressed to his father Gerald, Ulrich recalled. Confused as to why his 89-year-old father was receiving mail from the Army, Ulrich opened the package. Inside was a message from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, or the DPAA — the federal agency tasked with recovering missing military personnel and prisoners of war. The letter would kick off an eight-month journey that culminated in an emotional ceremony Friday at the San Francisco National Cemetery in the Presidio. Cpl. Ernest Ulrich, a World War II soldier who died in the Philippines after being subjected to the brutal Bataan Death March, was finally laid to rest in the U.S. after 80 years of being labeled 'Unknown.' For several weeks, the DPAA had been trying to notify Ulrich's father that recent dental and DNA testing had identified the remains of an unknown World War II soldier as belonging to Cpl. Ulrich — the half-brother of Ulrich's paternal grandfather, or his father's uncle. 'It was pretty incredible,' Ulrich told the Chronicle, but 'I had no idea who this person was.' No one had ever mentioned him, not even his grandfather — a World War I veteran who would often tell his grandchildren stories far beyond their years. When Ulrich reached out to the DPAA phone number listed at the bottom of the letter, he learned that the path to his great uncle's identification involved several burials and subsequent exhumations, spanned two countries separated by the Pacific Ocean and took over 80 years. Cpl. Ulrich, who was from China, Texas, served in the medical department of the 200th Coast Artillery Regiment during World War II, the DPAA told Ulrich (and later shared in a news release). After enlisting in March 1941, Cpl. Ulrich was transported with the rest of the 200th to the Philippines in October. When Japanese forces invaded the islands that December, the regiment provided ground support through several months of intense combat. Fighting continued until the United States surrendered the Bataan peninsula and Corregidor Island in the late spring of 1942. Japanese forces captured thousands of American and Filipino troops, including Cpl. Ulrich, as prisoners of war and subjected them to the 65-mile Bataan Death March, along with 78,000 others, toward the Cabanatuan POW Camp, DPAA officials said. Cpl. Ulrich, then 26, was admitted to the camp hospital for pellagra and beriberi — illnesses caused by vitamin deficiencies — as well as dysentery in September 1942, according to camp records cited by the DPAA in documents provided by Ulrich. He died of his illnesses on Nov. 22, 1942, according to camp records and other historical evidence. Cpl. Ulrich was buried in the camp's Common Grave 807, alongside several other servicemen. According to federal estimates, the camp saw upwards of 800 deaths per month and over 2,700 prisoners of war were buried in the camp cemeteries by 1945, when troops liberated the camp. After the war, American personnel relocated Cpl. Ulrich's remains from the Cabanatuan graves to the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, where they were considered unidentifiable and labeled 'Unknown,' federal officials say. According to DPAA documents provided by Ulrich, federal investigators in the mid-1940s identified three service members from the same grave, but were unable to identify any others due to 'inconclusive' dental records and forensics. At the time, an expert anthropologist said the remains were 'jumbled beyond belief' and in 'such a state of deterioration that evidence on which identification depends had been largely obliterated.' At the end of the Vietnam War in 1973 the Department of Defense designated an agency to search for all missing personnel and prisoners of war. At its launch, the DPAA's predecessor estimated that nearly 73,700 American soldiers who fought in World War II were missing. Today, only about 1,800 of those missing soldiers, or roughly 2.4%, are accounted for. After finding sufficient evidence to exhume several unresolved cases in August 2014, DPAA excavated the remains of nine unknown soldiers associated with Common Grave 807 in late 2018, agency officials said. The remains were transported to the agency's testing site in Hawaii. The agency's scientists identified Cpl. Ulrich's remains by using dental, anthropological and historical evidence, while personnel from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner system confirmed the results by using Y-chromosome DNA analysis, officials said. Ulrich noted that the DPAA used a DNA sample from Cpl. Ulrich's nephew, Boyce Ulrich, who has since passed away after providing the sample. Of the 999 service members from Camp Cabanatuan who were originally deemed missing, only 117, or just under 12%, have been accounted for, according to federal estimates. Cpl. Ulrich's remains arrived in the Bay Area on Tuesday, according to a Facebook post from Honoring Our Fallen, a nonprofit aiming to support military families. Personnel performed military honors at Oakland International Airport upon his arrival. The family knows little about their long-lost uncle. They have no photographs and merely one faded memory of him. Ulrich's father told him he recalled visiting Cpl. Ulrich on Angel Island before the regiment left for the Pacific Theatre; at the time, his father was less than five years old, and didn't remember anything about his uncle. After the war ended, all the family knew was that Cpl. Ulrich died during the Bataan Death March, Ulrich said. 'I didn't think I would have cried for a great uncle who I didn't know, who died in 1942,' Eric Ulrich said, describing Cpl. Ulrich's arrival ceremony. 'But with everybody standing around, everybody thinking about the historical moment — there are thousands of people that are never going to have this moment.' Since hearing the details of his great uncle's story, Ulrich's goal has been 'to do the right thing for this gentleman that did his service to his country,' he said. 'My role is to try to facilitate and see this through.' Wanting to learn more about his newly found relative, Ulrich looked further into the 200th Coast Artillery Regiment and came across a book, titled 'Beyond Courage: One Regiment Against Japan, 1941-1945,' which detailed the experiences of a small group within the 200th regiment via first-hand accounts and archival research. Ulrich was particularly drawn to a moment in the book when the ship carrying the 200th passes under the Golden Gate Bridge, prompting one soldier to tell another that 'some of us won't see that bridge again.' The Ulrich family originally wished to bury Cpl. Ulrich next to his half-brother in Palo Alto, or in the Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno. But in telling the story of the 200th and the Golden Gate Bridge, the family secured a resting place at the San Francisco National Cemetery in the Presidio, overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge. The coveted resting place, reserved for military veterans and their spouses, is completely full, according to Greg Silva, funeral director and general manager of Twin Chapels Mortuary, Cpl. Ulrich's funeral home. All of its burial spots are either occupied or reserved for spouses. But a very select few of the reserved spots can sometimes become vacant due to spouses changing their plans or other extraordinary circumstances, Silva explained. 'We got lucky,' he noted. 'To have him return back to San Francisco to be buried at the Presidio in the last place he saw before he left America (is) amazing,' Ulrich said, 'It's a celebration of this man who has paid his dues.' Under a partly sunny sky Friday, with the Golden Gate Bridge peaking through the fog, Cpl. Ulrich's remains arrived in the Presidio, just a couple miles away from where he was over 80 years ago. Surrounded by a new generation of family members, almost all of whom were born after he passed, Cpl. Ulrich received a full military honors ceremony that included a playing of military taps, a six-gun salute and an emotional flag-folding ceremony. For Ulrich's wife, Marti, the celebration was the 'feel-good, happy ending' to a long journey of 'picking up the pieces and carrying the torch.' 'This whole process has been something else,' Marti Ulrich said at the ceremony. 'To see it finally come full circle — the pieces of the puzzle just kept falling into place.' One war and 80 years later, Cpl. Ulrich was laid into the ground on the northern side of the cemetery, with a picture-perfect view of the Golden Gate Bridge.
