During World War II, the 36th Field Artillery Regiment was stationed at Fort Bragg in the spring of 1942. They left for England and arrived in August of 1942. They arrived Algeria in December of 1942. They fought in Tunisia with three artillery companies against the Germans in North Africa. 

In 1943 they began the Sicily campaign. The 36th field artillery served as the headquarters company and arrived in Salerno in September of 1943. In March of 1944, the field artillery regiments were reorganized into separate groups fighting in different theatres of war. The 1st battalion fought through France and into Austria. The 2nd battalion was in Italy along the Po River and the Italian Alps. The headquarters group was in Southern France and Germany until VE day on May 8, 1945.

Green County soldier Melvin Burington served in the US Army with the 633 Field Artillery Battalion, Battery F, 36th Field Artillery.

Melvin Lester Burington was born on July 13, 1915 in Clarno Township in Green County to Harry and Anna (Zillmer) Burington. 

On the 1920 US Census, the Burington family lived in Clarno Township in Green County. The household included father Harry, mother Anna, and children Marion, Arthur (Gayle), Melvin, Ethel, and Kenneth. Father Harry was a laborer with the I. C. R. R. Section.

On the 1930 US Census, the Burington family was living in Oneco, Stephenson County, Illinois. The household included father Harry, mother Anna, and children Marion, Melvin, Ethel, Kenneth, Retta, and Dorothy. Father Harry was a farmer in general farming.

On the 1940 US Census, Melvin Burington was living with Sam and Freda Wild in Oneco Township. Sam Wild was a farmer working on his own account, and Melvin was a farm laborer working for paid wages. 

Melvin Lester Burington registered for the WWII Draft on October 16, 1940. He was residing in rural Orangeville in Stephenson County, Illinois and working for Sam Wild. His next of kin was his father, Harry Burington, living in rural Winslow in Stephenson County, Illinois.

Burington enlisted in Chicago, Illinois on November 27, 1941. He had a grammar school education and worked as a farm hand on general farms. He was single, without dependents.

From the May 26, 1944 The Orangeville Courier (Orangeville, Ill.) notice titled “To Hold Memorial Services for Melvin Burington,” the article stated “Memorial services for Melvin Burington, who was killed in action in Italy, March 15, 1944, will be held at the Lutheran church in Browntown, Wis., Sunday, May 28…

Mr. and Mrs. Harry Burington were living in Oneco township where Melvin entered service and a gold star has been placed on the Orangeville honor roll for Melvin.”

From the October 6, 1948 The Capital Times (Madison, Wis.) article titled “Burington Service at Monroe On Friday,” the article stated “Funeral services for Pfc. Melvin L. Burington …will be held here...

The body is scheduled to arrive here Thursday noon. Pvt. Burington was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Burington, who reside southwest of here.”

The October 6, 1948 Freeport Journal-Standard (Freeport, Ill.) obituary for Pfc. Burington offers the additional information that “Besides his parents he leaves two brothers and four sisters, Marion and Dorothy, Monroe; Mrs. Orville Mohns, Savanna, Ill,; Mrs. Theodore Abels, Monroe; Gayle, Browntown; Kenneth, Orangeville.”

Pfc. Melvin L. Burington is listed on the National Archives WWII Honor List for Stephenson County, Illinois. 

Pfc. Burington was reburied in the Bethel Hawthorne Cemetery in Clarno Township in Green County in 1948.

Thank you, Private First Class Melvin Lester Burington, for your service to and ultimate sacrifice for this country. We honor you and remember you.