LT MELVIN E. RADCLIFFE, USN

Class 1935

Born October 10, 1912

Died May 7, 1942

Age 29

Hometown Reno, Nevada

Lucky Bag Yearbook

From the 1935 Lucky Bag:

MELVIN ERNEST RADCLIFFE

Mel Snake Raddy

Class Boxing 4. 1 P.O.

HOWS the —— for tomorrow, Raddy?" “Fruit. Guess I’ll turn in,” says the man of few words. But don’t get the idea that Raddy is lazy. He stands well up in the top fifty, and no one in that group is more generous in sharing his talents. Sleep, and perhaps the movies, are Raddy’s weaknesses. He’s shy and modest, therefore he’s respected. To many he’s a mystery. None of us have ever seen him drag, nor has he ever been to a hop! He boxes well, and plays tennis, basketball, baseball, and “touch” better than most, yet he has never seen fit to go out for the varsity. Raddy’s ideals are high and his opinions are decided, but he never forces either on anyone.

Loss

Melvin was lost when USS Sims (DD 409) was sunk by Japanese dive bombers on May 7, 1942 in the Battle of the Coral Sea. He was the gunnery officer.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Melvin graduated from Reno High School. In 1929, he attained a Bronze “R” pin for two semesters above 90%. In June 1929, he was awarded a baseball bat by the American Legion Baseball League for the player obtaining the highest scholastic record for the second semester of the year. He represented the high school in the Thomas A. Edison contest in 1930. He was appointed to the Naval Academy by Congressman Samuel Arentz.

His engagement to the former Gloria McDonald was announced at a small dinner given at Wilshire Bowl in Los Angeles. At the time, he was stationed at San Pedro, California. They married in September 1938 in Long Beach. They had twins, a son and a daughter Flora.

In 1920 his family lived in Ogden, Utah, and in 1930, they lived in Reno, Nevada. His father Arthur was a railroad telegraph operator. His mother was Pearl, sisters Blanche, Pearl and Dorothy, and brothers Dorrance (’38) and Arthur.

His wife was listed as next of kin.

Melvin has a memory marker in Nevada, is listed at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, and also the Battle of the Coral Sea Memorial Park in Australia.

(Note some newspaper articles cite him as a LCDR; there are no official sources with this rank.)

His brother, Dorrance Radcliffe ‘38, was killed in action in Korea.

Navy Directories & Officer Registers

The "Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps" was published annually from 1815 through at least the 1970s; it provided rank, command or station, and occasionally billet until the beginning of World War II when command/station was no longer included. Scanned copies were reviewed and data entered from the mid-1840s through 1922, when more-frequent Navy Directories were available.

The Navy Directory was a publication that provided information on the command, billet, and rank of every active and retired naval officer. Single editions have been found online from January 1915 and March 1918, and then from three to six editions per year from 1923 through 1940; the final edition is from April 1941.

The entries in both series of documents are sometimes cryptic and confusing. They are often inconsistent, even within an edition, with the name of commands; this is especially true for aviation squadrons in the 1920s and early 1930s.

Alumni listed at the same command may or may not have had significant interactions; they could have shared a stateroom or workspace, stood many hours of watch together, or, especially at the larger commands, they might not have known each other at all. The information provides the opportunity to draw connections that are otherwise invisible, though, and gives a fuller view of the professional experiences of these alumni in Memorial Hall.