On a Sunday 4 weeks in the past, I walked by means of the stillness of a North African summer time morning, marveling on the completely manicured grounds of the 27-acre North Africa American Cemetery in Tunisia.
Right here lie the stays of two,841 of our army lifeless from World Battle II, representing 39% of the burials initially made in North Africa and Iran. All of the headstones are exactly aligned.
My objective was to pay my respects at a type of headstones. Block H, Row 20, Grave 18 is the burial web site of Workers Sgt. Rene A. Leger of East Windfall, one of many very first Military Air Power crew members (and doubtless the primary Rhode Islander) misplaced within the European theater throughout WWII. He died Aug. 9, 1942 – a full two months earlier than the U.S. invasion of North Africa started in November.
In line with the Leger household, this was the primary time anybody from house had ever visited his grave. Nobody had ever even seen an image of the grave till now.
Genesis of this story
Individuals typically ask how I get the inspiration for these columns. I first heard this story throughout a curling match on the Smithfield Municipal Ice Rink.
Bristol resident Tony Morettini and I’ve been members of the Ocean State Curling Membership for a number of years. Earlier than a match, Tony mentioned, “My spouse Susan’s uncle was an Military Air Forces crew member killed in North Africa throughout the early days of World Battle II.“
He barely had time to unpack earlier than he was killed on his first mission. Would possibly this be a narrative appropriate for this column?
“He wasn’t a hero – only a man from Rhode Island attempting to serve his nation who finally ends up lifeless earlier than he even begins to make his mark.”
Early days
Rene was born in Pawtucket on Might 12, 1920, the third of 5 youngsters. Their father, Andre, born in France in 1897, got here from a household of lace staff in Calais.
Andre married Canadian-born Ernestine Dion. Sadly, Ernestine died at age 30 in 1927, leaving Andre with 5 youngsters age 10 or youthful. “Making an attempt to manage, Andre married thrice and moved typically,” Susan Morettini instructed me. “He adopted the work at lace mills round New England and New York.”
“Evidently, the youngsters lived a chaotic childhood of assorted moms, siblings and settings,” Susan mentioned.
Work (and the paycheck) was extra necessary than faculty within the Leger family. When sufficiently old, the kids have been usually put to work, turning their wages over to their father.
Rene prevented this destiny to a sure extent. He graduated from Riverside Junior Excessive and attended East Windfall Excessive College for 2 years earlier than going to work. He moved in together with his older sister Vivian and her husband.
“Rene left house as quickly as he might and was not on talking phrases together with his father on the time of his demise,” Susan recalled.
Rene registered for the draft in July 1941 and listed Vivian as his subsequent of kin. On Jan. 20, 1942, Rene enlisted within the Military Air Corps and commenced coaching as an aircrew member (gunner) on heavy bombers.
Army profession
Leger was assigned to the newly activated 98th Bomb Group. They skilled with B-24 Liberators throughout the first half of 1942, flying out of MacDill Airforce Base in Tampa, Florida, and Barksdale Air Power base in Louisiana. They completed their coaching at Drane Discipline in Lakeland, Florida (Might-July 1942).
In June of 1942, Rene Leger met Vetra Wright in Lakeland. After a whirlwind romance, they have been married June 26, 1942.
On July 4, 1942, he wrote a number of letters from Lakeland to members of the family asserting the excellent news. “I’ve solely recognized her per week however I don’t suppose we’ve made a mistake,” he wrote.
Rene was additionally promoted to workers sergeant on July 1, and he mailed house a photograph of himself with Vetra displaying him in his newly minted stripes.
He expressed hope that he might get a furlough earlier than heading abroad to introduce his new bride to the household.
That was not within the playing cards.
Off to warfare
The group was alerted and departed Morrison Discipline, Florida, for the Center East in July 1942. They flew by means of the Caribbean to Brazil after which crossed the Atlantic to Liberia. They proceeded east throughout central Africa by means of the Sudan, lastly arriving in Palestine on July 25. The 98th was initially assigned to the USMEAF (United States Center East Air Power) at RAF bases in northern Palestine.
Leger’s 415th Bomb Squadron flew its first mission simply six days later, on July 31, with the plane being serviced by the Royal Air Power. Their very own upkeep personnel and tools traveled by ship across the Cape of Good Hope and didn’t arrive till mid-August.
Inside two weeks of his arrival in Palestine, Leger was lifeless. He was possible the primary Air Corps crew member from Rhode Island to lose his life within the European theater throughout the warfare.
Contemplate this: The Eighth Air Power didn’t fly its first bomber mission from the UK till the 97th BG bombed a marshaling yard at Rouen on Aug. 17. That was 10 days after Leger’s demise.
The one recognized USAAF casualties earlier than Leger’s flight have been 4 B-24s in June and July from the Halverson Detachment, which was diverted en path to China in June with the intention to assist cease German Discipline Marshal Erwin Rommel.
No U.S. foot troopers fought in Europe or North Africa till the Dieppe Raid of Aug. 19, 1942, throughout which the Rangers misplaced a handful of casualties. That was 10 days after Leger’s demise.
“He was the older brother and hero of his household even earlier than serving his nation in WWll,” mentioned nephew Jay Leger of Boulder, Colorado. “The household was devastated together with his loss.”
How was he killed?
Rene A. Leger is listed as “Died Non-Battle” within the 1946 Military and Military Air Forces Personnel Casualty Record. The idea is that the aircraft crashed in Palestine both on takeoff or touchdown, and that the accident was not as a result of enemy motion.
The preliminary Windfall Journal report (Aug. 31, 1942) says Leger died in an airplane crash, not that he was shot down. Moreover, seven of the 11 crew members survived, and so they will need to have corroborated what had occurred.
Then again, a letter mailed to Leger on Aug. 10 from Riverside was returned with the notation “Killed in Motion.”
I regarded into the data of the opposite three crew members who died that day and in addition discovered conflicting data.
- 1st Lt. Pascoe C. Deaton was the bombardier on this flight, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s official burial document for Deaton states, “Killed in motion at Bengasi, Africa, 8/9/42.”
- A deep dive into the mission logs of the 98th Bombardment Group additionally gives conflicting data.
- Data report Leger’s plane launched from RAF St. Jean Airfield on a raid in opposition to an enemy convoy in Benghazi harbor and was “shot down, flak or fighter” throughout the raid.
We’ve got requested the interment data from Tunis, hoping that the unique burial data would possibly present extra particulars.
Sadly, the fog of warfare makes it unlikely that we are going to ever resolve these inconsistencies.
Unit data additionally point out that Leger was initially buried on the army cemetery of El Alia in Algiers, together with the three different crewmen from his aircraft who died that day. (That’s per the historical past of the Tunis facility, which was initiated in 1948 after a survey of all of the momentary cemeteries in North Africa decided they weren’t appropriate for long-term use.)
The our bodies of the opposite three members of Leger’s crew killed on Aug. 9 have been repatriated to the USA after the warfare and are in burial plots of their hometowns.
Household carries on
Brother Richard enlisted within the Navy shortly after turning 17 in April 1942. He joined Naval Aviation and for many of the warfare served in Brazil conducting anti-submarine patrols within the South Atlantic. He was a radioman on PBY and PBM flying boats.
Brother Gerard joined the Navy in spring 1942 and went by means of PT boat coaching at Melville. He served in each the Mediterranean and Pacific theaters. He was assigned to MTB Squadron 33 in mid-1945, based mostly within the Philippines.
The Leger custom of army service continued properly past WWII. Jay Leger, son of Gerard, is now 77. He served with the 173rd Airborne Brigade in Vietnam in 1967-68. (Coincidentally, I used to be additionally in Vietnam with the 173rd in 1967, though our paths by no means crossed.)
“My niece’s son, Ethan Carello, continues the custom in the present day,” Jay instructed me. “He’s serving on an assault submarine based mostly in New London.”
