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| Staff Sergeant Ray Gleason was a gunner in the 98th Bombardment Group during the ill fated Ploesti mission. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/55101289 |
Ray Lawrence Gleason never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
Ray was born on December 1, 1919 in Lilly, Michigan. His parents Ernest and Mable were also born in Michigan. His father worked as a farm manager. Ray had one older brother, one older sister, two younger brothers, and five younger sisters. In 1940, Ray was living at home with his parents in Saline, Michigan and attending college at Michigan State Normal College in nearby Ypsilanti, Michigan.
Ray enlisted in the US Army Air Corps the day after the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, and served in the 345th Bomb Squadron of the 98th Bombardment Group (Heavy). The 98th BG was equipped with Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bombers, and was deployed to the Middle East in July 1942 as part of the Ninth Air Force. It supported the British army in its westward advance from Egypt into Libya and Tunisia, and bombed shipping and harbor installations in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, Crete, and Greece to cut enemy supply lines to Africa and to prepare for the Allied invasion of Italy.
On 1 August 1943, SSgt. Gleason was a gunner aboard B-24D 42-40102 “Old Baldy” taking part in Operation Tidal Wave. Romania had been a huge fuel supplier to the Nazi war machine, so the Allies decided that a major effort to deny this fuel should take place with hopes it would shorten the war. Operation Tidal Wave dispatched 178 B-24 bombers from airfields near Benghazi, Libya to attack the oil fields and refineries at Ploesti, north of Bucharest, Romania, which were among the most heavily defended targets in Europe.
The mission plan called for the B-24s to go in at low altitude to avoid German radar. “Old Baldy” was in the fourth wave attacking it’s assigned target, the Asta Romana refinery. As the aircraft approached the target it was hit by flak and caught fire but the pilot was able to climb high enough to release his bomb load. Knowing that his aircraft was severely damaged, the pilot steered it into the same enemy gun battery that had shot them down, killing all ten crewmembers. The mission was one of the costliest for the USAAF in the European Theater, with 53 aircraft and 660 air crew lost.
Ray Lawrence Gleason is memorialized in Oakhill Cemetery in Saline, Michigan.
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This profile was written by Bob Fuerst. "I’m a NASA engineer, B-17 Flying Fortress enthusiast, and amateur genealogist so this kind of research is an ideal outlet for me. But more than anything, it’s a way to express my sincere appreciation for The Greatest Generation and the sacrifices that they made, especially those who made the ultimate sacrifice. They should never be forgotten and I’m grateful to Don for allowing me to play a small part in honoring them."
Last year on this date I profiled Normandy fallen Bernard Lewis of the 4th Infantry Division. You can read about Bernard here.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
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ReplyDeleteThanks for your service and sacrifice.
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