ROBERT D. GLESSNER, 1LT, USA
Robert Glessner '42
Robert Donaldson Glessner was admitted to the Naval Academy from Pennsylvania on June 10, 1938 at age 18 years 6 months.
He resigned on February 10, 1940 because he was “deficient in studies, first term’s work. Recommended to be dropped. Permitted to resign.”
Photographs
Loss
Robert was killed in action on December 24, 1944 when the P-40N Warhawk (not a Mustang as described below) he was piloting was shot down approximately 8 miles south of Nanyo, Japan. He was a member of the 27th Fighter Squadron, 5th Fighter Group, Chinese-American Composite Wing, 14th Air Force, based in China.
Other Information
From Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, New York) on February 14, 1945:
Lt. Robert D. Glessner Killed Over China
Lt. Robert D. Glessner, 25, fighter pilot son of the late Col. H. Hall T. Glessner, USA, and Mrs. Glessner… was killed in action Dec. 24 [1944] over China. Lieutenant Glessner, whose wife, Eleanor Wallace Glessner, lives at 116 Trafalgar St., was a student at Annapolis, which he had entered in 1939, when he was assigned to the China-Burma-India theater in 1942. Pilot of a Mustang with the Chinese-American Composite Wing of the 14th Air Force, he held the Purple Heart for wounds received in Tunisia. He also wore the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, the British Award of Merit and the Presidential Unit Citation. Before passing the entrance examinations to Annapolis, Lieutenant Glessner had attended Balboa High School in Balboa, Panama, and Dandall's Preparatory School, Washington, D.C.
From researcher Kathy Franz:
Robert was born in Rochester, New York.
On July 29, 1936, he sailed from Cristobal, Panama Canal Zone, to New York City listing his address as Washington, D. C. From May 4 to August 13, 1937, he was in the 9th Fl. Div. of the New York National Guard.
He enlisted in the Army Air Corps on February 14, 1942. At that time, he had one year of college, and his occupation was laboratory technician and assistant.
In July, 1943, he was wounded in Tunisian and was hospitalized in the United States. He kept his hospitalization a secret until he was released in November. He visited his family and friends in Holley, New York. Per the Democrat and Chronicle, November 11, 1943: “With his missing ear restored by skillful plastic surgery and facial lacerations which required 62 stitches to close, leaving no scars, he bore no visible traces of the ordeal which he had undergone. While still nervous and suffering from a slight impairment of vision which he is assured will soon be corrected, his only thought is to get back to the front as soon as possible.
“His plane was shot down in the Mediterranean and he was rescued unharmed. He was wounded afterward when a land mine exploded under a jeep in which he was riding. One of his companions was killed.
“His skill as a flyer was well known long before the war in this vicinity, where he could be seen almost any day performing stunts overhead. It was no surprise to his friends when he entered the branch of service in which he has distinguished himself.
“He was warmly welcomed at the Rotary Club, where he was guest speaker, and by friends fortunate enough to meet him during his short stay.
He married Eleanor Louise Wallace on October 20, 1944, at All Soul’s Church in New York City. His father was a captain in the Signal Corps in 1930. His mother was Helen.
He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery; internment occurred in November 1947.
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