Joseph Michael Mermejo Mermejo
Birth: 26 April 1949, Picuris Pueblo, Taos, NM USA
Death: 29 March 1969, Tam Ky, Quang Nam, Vietnam
Not much is known about PFC Joseph Michael Mermejo, besides he was raised in Stockton, Utah, and the Picuris Pueblo, in Taos, New Mexico, due to his father, Don Mermejo, working various jobs between the two areas.1 At 18 years of age Joseph joined the US Marine Corps Unit G CO, 2nd BN, 5th Marines, 1st MARDIV, III MAF, as a rifleman. He started his tour in Vietnam on 15 November 1968, and was killed in the line of duty 29 March 1969.2 Joseph was the first of the Picuris Pueblo to die in the Vietnam War.3
Notes:
1. “Don Mermejo” The Santa Fe New Mexican 16 April 2003
2. “Joesph Michael Mermejo” findagrave.com
3. “Picuris Pueblo Marine Is Killed” The Albuquerque Tribune 11 April 1969
4. PFC Joseph Michael Mermejo, Photo by Find a Grave.com, August 2023
Written by Charles Preston a SFCC student