Sgt. Gladys Gleason Whitman
WAC
1943-1945
GLEASON, Gladys R. Sgt. Gladys R. Gleason, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. B.
D. Gleason, Minden, graduate of LSU. Entered WAC, 1943, trained at Ft.
Oglethorpe, Ga. and Daytona Beach, Fla. Served in Mediterranean and Italy.
Awarded 3 Battle Stars, Unit Citation and CGM. Discharged in 1945.
Another cousin (second cousin) who served was
Gladys Gleason Whitman, born April 12, 1922 in Evergreen, she
graduated from MHS in 1938 or 39. After attending LSU, she became a
member of the Women's Army Corps (WAC) in 1943. During WW II she
served in the Mediterranean and in Italy, receiving three Battle
Stars. She was discharged in 1945 and was the first woman in the US
to receive the GI Bill. She settled with her husband and family in
California after the war and died December 3, 2005. Her parents were
Benjamin Durelle Gleason and Thelma Gladys Clement Gleason, who are
buried in the Gardens of Memory Cemetery in Minden.
Gladys' brother, "B. D." Gleason, was a noted
football star for Minden about 1940. During WW II, he served in the
Pacific Theater: New Guinea, Cebu and Luzon. He now resides in
Shreveport.
Gardens of Memories - Row 11, Garden of the Lord's Supper
Benjamin D. Gleason was born 1897 and died in 1986
Thelma C. Gleason was born in 1902 and died in 1982
Submitted by Judy Gleason Claasson, Class of 1954