WWII · Battle Death Record
Leon R. Vance Jr.
Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army Air Forces · Oklahoma
Medal of Honor
Personnel File — Core Information
- Name
- Leon R. Vance Jr.
- Entered the Service From
- Oklahoma
- Rank
- Lieutenant Colonel
- Service
- U.S. Army Air Forces
- Unit / Regiment
- 489th Bombardment Group
- War
- WWII
- Date of Death
- July 26, 1944
- Awards
- Medal of Honor
- Burial / Memorial
- Commemorated on the Tablets of the Missing, Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial
- Grave
- Tablets of the Missing
Their story
Though gravely wounded over France on D-Day, he nursed his crippled B-24 home and ditched it to save a crewman he believed still aboard. The aircraft returning him to the United States was later lost at sea. Awarded the Medal of Honor.
Compiled from American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) and National Archives (NARA) records and public sources.
This record is one of more than 200,000 in our historical archive. Some information may have been corrupted or lost over decades of data conversion. Corrections are welcome — please contact the archive.