IN LOVING MEMORY
Leonard Eugene Holmes
Flight Officer
·
Army
HOMETOWN
Mount Vernon,
Texas
AGE
22
DATE OF DEATH
January 16, 1944
PLACE OF BURIAL
Tablets of the Missing, Florence American Cemetery and Memorial, Toscana, Italy
About Leonard Eugene Holmes
Enlisted in the USAAC in April 1941. Received his wings September 5, 1942. Flight Officer in the 437th Bomber Squadron, 391th Bomber Group. Marauder Man as co-pilot of B-26.
The oldest of 3 siblings (two other brothers). Graduate of Mount Vernon (Texas) High School and the only serviceman from North Franklin County killed in WWII at the time of his death.
On his 48th mission over Florence, Italy, anti-aircraft fire shot out one of his B-26 engines, forcing him to leave formation. German fighters attacked his crippled plane, and he crash landed in the Mediterranean Sea, where his plane was strafed, killing him and his crew of 6. He was only 22 years old.
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