Melvin Solomon Adalman
| NAME: Melvin Solomon Adalman | NICKNAME: — | SERVICE NUMBER: 829581 | |||||
| HOME OF RECORD: 2820 Cold Spring Lane, Baltimore, MD | NEXT OF KIN: Mother, Mrs. Jeane Foreman | ||||||
| DATE OF BIRTH: 7/4/1923 | SERVICE DATES: 6/29/1944 – 3/3/1945 | DATE OF DEATH: 3/3/1945 | |||||
| CAMPAIGN | UNIT | MOS | RATE | RESULT | |||
| Iwo Jima | B/1/24 | 521 | Private | KIA | |||
| INDIVIDUAL DECORATIONS: Purple Heart | LAST KNOWN RANK: Private | ||||||
Melvin Adalman was born on Independence Day, 1923, and raised in Baltimore. He was just six years old when his father, Army veteran turned factory manager Solomon Adalman, died unexpectedly and left Melvin and his mother Jeane on their own. Little Melvin was partly raised by his grandfather, Rabbi Daniel Sussman, and his family in Cape May, New Jersey.
As a teenager, Melvin developed an interest in medicine. After completing high school, he enrolled in the University of Maryland to study pharmacology. Adalman thrived at the university; he was active in the school’s social scene and was elected Keeper of the Sacred Scrolls for the Phi Alpha fraternity. Yearbook quotes provide glimpses into his personality and philosophy. “Judge not a man by the tone of his voice” accompanied his picture in 1942; in 1943, he was “A straight shooter who says what he means despite the consequences.”
Adalman well knew that he would likely be called to serve in the war; he registered for the draft in 1942, and volunteered for service in 1943 but was not called to active duty. He was keenly interested in the progress of the war and social issues – what he called “the losing battle for democracy going on at home” – and wrote at least one impassioned letter to a newspaper editor calling out racist remarks by congressman Andrew May. “It is only here at home that the elements of hate, ignorance and Fascism still flourish under the hands of men such as May… who use these democratic rights for which men are dying to deny children the same,” he railed. “When will the politicians learn that democracy does not stop at the Mason-Dixon line; that a nation cannot long endure half slave and half free?”
In this letter, Adalman also noted that “in a short time I expect to be in one of the armed forces.” His junior year quote for the 1944 Terra Maria yearbook, attributed to James Russell Lowell, read:
There is no good in arguing with the inevitable.
The only argument available with an east wind is to put on your overcoat.
Melvin Adalman was called up to active duty on 29 June 1944 and sent to Parris Island for boot camp. After an abbreviated training period – the Marine Corps was in serious need of men to replace combat losses suffered in the bloody summer campaigns – Adalman was assigned to duty with the 30th Replacement Draft and shipped over to Hawaii. Most of the young private’s time in the Corps was spent with this unit which, by its very nature, was destined to be broken up and the men parceled out to combat units as needed. He received some additional rudimentary training in Hawaii, but nothing near what he would need to be ready for battle.
Adalman’s draft was attached to the Fourth Marine Division for the battle of Iwo Jima, and he was destined to join the fray. On 27 February 1945, Private Adalman and a handful of other replacements were assigned to Baker Company, First Battalion, 14th Marines. This company had been badly mauled in five days of combat on Iwo’s front lines, and the former pharmacy student was assigned to duty with a squad of strangers. Adalman could carry an M1 rifle, but he was far from adept – like many late-war draftees, was rushed through boot camp without qualifying for even the lowest marksman’s badge. He may have been assigned to duty as a stretcher bearer, ammunition carrier, or other function. Adalman had four days to adjust to his new surroundings, new comrades, and the idea that he would soon face the enemy before the orders sending the battalion back to the front line came down from above.
For the first and second days of March 1945, Private Adalman and Baker Company waited anxiously in regimental reserve; one man was killed and a few more wounded, but the casualties streaming back from Able and Charlie companies were far more numerous. On 3 March, Charlie Company was deemed “used up” and at 0930 Company B was ordered forward to pass through their lines and continue the advance.
“The relief was effected in an area where an enemy was well entrenched and concealed,” noted the battalion’s report. “The zone of action was infested with spider traps and concealed machine guns.” Iwo’s defensive terrain was by far the most complex and dangerous the Marines had yet encountered, and for raw replacements it was a merciless proving ground. Melvin Adalman was one of four Baker Company Marines killed in action on this date.
Adalman’s body lay under a bloody poncho for a full week before burial in the Fourth Marine Division Cemetery on Iwo Jima. Three years later, his remains were returned to his mother for burial in Shaarei Zion Cemetery, Rosedale, Maryland.
He graduated from the university of Maryland College of Pharmacy in 1944
U. S. Marine Pvt Melvin Adalman, you gave your life during war time on Iwo Jima, and you will ALWAYS be Forever Young. May you R. I. P.