LT Melvin E. Purinton
1916 - 1995
USAR
WWII
Melvin Earl Purinton was born December 23, 1916 in Fair Grove, Missouri to Henry and Martha Harcum Purinton.
Purinton joined the U.S. Army in 1935, and served with the Seventh Cavalry and the 19th Infantry. After seven years in the service, then-Sergeant Purinton attended Officer Candidate School and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant, to lead troops in Europe during World War II. He was released from active duty to U.S. Army Reserves in November, 1945, and honorably discharged on August 31, 1960, but his final rank is undiscovered (this author will refer to him as Lieutenant until corrected).
On July 11, 1951, he married Eleanor Dode in Chicago.
As a civilian, Purinton was employed as a cashier for the Regional Transit Authority.
He was a member of Barrington American Legion Post #158 and the 40&8 Veteran’s Society, an independent, invitation-only honor society of U.S. veterans and service members. He also belonged to Salem United Methodist Church.
LT Earl Purinton died on February 27, 1995 in Arlington Heights, and is buried in Barrington’s Evergreen Cemetery.
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Remember. Honor. Teach.
Courtesy of Signal Hill Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution.