He was known as Sonny to his relatives. He joined the Air Force as an engine mechanic in August 1950. He Married Jane in May 1954. They had known each other since Jane was 13.

In 1964, after raising to the rank of Staff Sergeant, it was discovered that he had heart disease. He underwent open-heart surgery by the pioneering heart surgeons Debakey and Cooley ‏(sp?)‏ in 1964 at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, DC. He was given a medical retirement in 1966. This greatly saddened Melvin since he had found a home in the Air Force and wanted to serve for 30 years before retiring.

While in the Air Force, Melvin worked on B-29, B-36 and B-52 bombers. During the Cuban Missil Crisis of 1962, Melvin left one morning for work and didn't come back for two weeks. Being the wife of a mechanic in the Strategic Airt Command, Jane was used to such things. Melvin never would say where his squadron deployed to in anticipation of nuclear war.

Jeffrey says that Melvin was a very kind and charitable man. "One year we caught in excess of 120 king mackerel off the coast of Maryland. I had no idea what we would do with so many fish, but my father spent the next couple of days going door-to-door giving them to our neighbors."

Later in life, Melvin was elected Judge Advocate and finally Commander of Post 226 of the American Legion. He was very active in vertan's affairs and local politics. It seemed he never met a stranger.

Jeffrey says Melvin always had a great deal of courage to call upon. "One day, I was to pick him up at the American Legion and bring him home for dinner. As I entered the hall, I found my father standing and yelling at a man known as "Big George". Big George at 6' 7" and 400+ pounds then went into vivid details as to what he was gong to do with my father's 5' 9", 125 pound body. After hearing the verbal threats, my father looked up at Big George and said ‘Oh yeah! What's stopping you?' My father was always a kind man and really didn't have a violent bone in his body. However, he had more courage than most people I know."

Melvin died from complications of lung cancer and heart disease in the afternoon of October 3, 1991 at Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C. His funeral procession from Annapolis, Maryland to Maryland Vetrans Cemetery in Crownsville stretched for as far as the eye could see. Traffic was tied up for some time.