Robert Severn Andrew Gladden – First Lieutenant, United States Marine Corps

Robert Severn Andrew Gladden, First Lieutenant, United States Marine Corps, was born on 26 November 1899 and died on 23 May 1929.

KILLED BY PLANE FALL
Lieutenant R. S. A. Gladden Victim of Crash in Haiti – Another Hurt

PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti, May 24, 1929 – A United States Marine Corps airplane crashed at Cape Haitien yesterday.  First Lieutenant Robert S. A. Gladden was fatally injured and First Lieutenant Robert Hartenstine Rhoads, who was piloting the machine, was seriously injured.

First Lieutenant Gladden was born in Lexington, Texas, November 26, 1899.  He is the son of Professor Thomas L. Gladden of St. John’s College, Annapolis, Maryland, from which he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Science.  In 1921 he was appointed a Second Lieutenant in the Marine Corps Reserve, and one year later was appointed to the same rank in the regular service.  He was promoted to the rank of First Lieutenant in January of this year.

Lieutenant Gladden had served in Santo Domingo, Guantanamo, Cuba, and Nicaragua, prior to his transfer to Cape Haitien, Haiti, where he died.  While on duty with the Marine Expeditionary Force in Nicaragua he was commended by the Major General Commandant of the Marine Corps for “high morale maintained within his command under difficult circumstances.”

His next of kin is his wife, Mrs. Gladden, who is now in Haiti.

GLADDEN, ROBERT S A
1ST LT US MARINE CORPS
DATE OF DEATH: 05/23/1929
BURIED AT: SECTION 7  SITE LOT 8120
ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

Michael Robert Patterson

Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.

Reviewed by: Michael Howard