About Kermit Mercer
I first became acquainted with Kermit Mercer when he read my Uncle Jud's letters on internet over two years ago and became as immersed in the story as I. Having been a veteran once stationed in France, a World War I buff, and a researcher at the University of Rochester, he believed there was much more to the story than I knew. He also believed that much could still be learned even after this much time had passed. He began a quest to learn more and eventually brought to me the story I wished so much my grandfather (Jud's brother) could have known. The questions my grandfather, a poor farmer in Tennessee in 1918, must have wished so much to ask, were finally given answers...to his granddaughter (and the last member of the Dennis clan) exactly eighty years to the day that my grandfather received the terrible telegram. Kermit was unable to pinpoint the location of Jud's burial, but he was able to narrow it down considerably. He showed me video footage of the battlefield and the slope on the banks of the Selle where Jud must first have been buried (and may still be) and the Somme American Cemetery where he may rest unknown. He traced the last days of Jud for me, and the final battle...both in words and pictures. This very kind, very knowledgeable man came to my family's home in November of 1998 and gave a gift to my family and to me that truly is one of the greatest ones I have known in my life. -JD
More about Kermit Mercer and his life in New York.