Mack Brady Melchor and "best friend"
Conover war hero
Mack Brady Melchor and
"best friend"
Mack Brady Melchor & crew
In the picture are: (L-R): Earl Berneking-TG, George DeVoe-CP, Bruce Rivett-P, John Hubbard-RO, Al Lang-BTG, Mack Brady Melchor-ENG, Ben Ploch-B, Byron Ware- WG. (Front) John Symmes-WG. Missing from photo due to injury is Caleb G Baxter, Nav.
MACK BRADY MELCHOR T/SGT - TOP TURRET GUNNER
Boeing B-17G - FLIGHT ENGINEER MIGHTY EIGHTH AIR FORCE
United States Army Air Corps
1st Battle Wing 381st Bombardment Group (Heavy)
"L"
532nd-533rd-534th-535th
Squadrons Ridgewell Station - EnglandBorn in Conover, N. C, Graduated from Newton-Conover High School 1941. Joined the Army Air Corps in early 1942. Attended gunnery schools in Colorado and North Dakota. Assigned to 381st Bombardment Group at Potter, Georgia on May 1942,and later that year to the command wing at Ridgewell Air Base, England, Flew 35+ missions over Germany, crash-landed in Belgium in 1943, but returned to his group at Ridgewell. His command pilot was Colonel Jack 'old-man' Rivett, of California. Melchor completed all assigned missions during 1943-1944.
The 381st BG took part in "Big Week", February 20th 1944, when 1,000 bombers and almost as many fighter escorts headed for raids into Germany. Twenty-one bombers were lost that day. On May 29th, 1944 the designated target was Posen, Poland, a round trip of 1,700 miles, one of the longest of all missions. Only three ships were lost. The first Presidential Unit Citation was awarded the group for this mission.
The memorable missions were those to the ball-bearing plants at Schweinfurt and the U-Boat pens along the North Sea,, The second PUC was awarded the group for these assignments. These missions always brought in the Junker JU87 (Stuka) and the dreaded Messerchmitt 109's of the German Luftwaffe, inflicting heavy losses to the squadrons.
T/Sgt Melchor received the following medals. Two Presidential Unit Citations, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with 5 clusters, European Theater of Operations Campaign Medal, American Campaign Medal, World War Two Victory Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal and the UDC WW II Cross of Honor.After returning to Conover, he was an insurance agent for the Life of Virginia. Melchor passed away in 1976. He was an avid fisherman, bird-hunter and dog trainer. He was the only son of Mack and Edna (Brady) Melchor. His sister, Jean (Allran) died in 2009. One son, Gary, survives him. Mack B. Melchor is buried at Conover City Cemetery.
French Dressing: B-17G. Unknown
if this is 43-37536 (VE-C) or 43-38977 (VE-H),
both are reported to have been named "French
Dressing". (#1 and #2?)
VE-H returned to the US on 5/27/45 and VE-C returned
on 6/18/45.
Mack was a Conover native, the was the son of Mack K. and Edna S. (Brady) Melchor. He was born in Conover on 24 Dec 1923 and died 30 Jun 1983 and is buried in the Conover City Cemetery next to his wife, Naomi Ruth (Simmons) Melchor. His grandparents were Charles Robert and Eudora S. "Dora" (Herman) Brady, prominent citizens of Conover. Mack was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his service.
[Stone reads: 34
missions over Germany,
shot down Aug. 8, 1944, Awarded the Distinguished
Flying Cross, 5 Air Medals and 5 battle stars.]
[References: http://www.381st.org/ and http://www.gulfcoastwing.org/381.htm]
Article and photos courtesy of Don Barker
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