McHenry, IL.
Date of Birth: 18 March, 1923
Date of Death: 12 June, 1944
Branch of Service: USAAF (United States Army Air Forces)
Rank: Second Lieutenant
Unit: 360th Bomb Squadron, 303rd Bomb Group, Heavy, 8th Air Force
Aircraft Type and Position: B-17 Flying Fortress- Bombardier
Place of Death: 6km north of the City of Cambrai, Nord department, Hauts-de-France region, France
Second Lieutenant Melvin Gladstone
Distinguished Flying Cross Recipient
Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters
Melvin Gladstone of 108 Elm Street in McHenry registered for the draft at the Woodstock Armory on February 16, 1942, alongside thousands of other young Americans. At twenty years old, he had been working as a clerk in town. He soon began training with the Army Air Forces, serving with the 360th Bomber Squadron, 303rd Bomb Group, where he would ultimately earn the Distinguished Flying Cross and an Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters.
As a B-17 bombardier, Gladstone flew twenty-five bombing missions in the European Theater. His final letter to his parents came on June 7, 1944. In it, he described his missions along with small updates about how he spent his free time, and inquiries about friends and family back home. That letter arrived on the cusp of the war’s final bloody chapter. The 303rd Bomb Group played an essential role in opening the way for the Allied landings at D-Day and limiting German capabilities to respond as the Allies pushed toward victory.
Five days after Gladstone wrote that letter, on June 12, 1944, at 9:15 a.m., German anti-aircraft guns shot down his B-17 over northern France. The bomber, nicknamed “Tangerine,” had been targeting the headquarters of an airbase in Cambrai and was only two kilometers from its objective when flak burst through the bomb bay. Of the eight crew members aboard, only one survived. Second Lieutenant Melvin Gladstone was among the seven killed.
His two brothers also served: Captain Lee Gladstone in the Pacific Theater and Roy Gladstone in Santa Rosa, California. The Woodstock Daily Sentinel reported his death and noted eighty-five other Gold Stars later that year in December. Melvin was the first McHenry County native to be killed in France.
Today, a Star of David tombstone at Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial marks his resting place.
By Austin May
303rd Bomb Group
360th Bomb Squadron
Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial
Colleville-sur-Mer
Department du Calvados, Basse Normandy
To visit the cemetery, click on his Star of David Headstone
