I'm sorry this is a day late... meet my Great-uncle Leo KIA WWII

[Omaha Steve]

I was watching Air Force on TCM the other night. Leo's flight that tried to land DURING the attack on Pearl Harbour is in the movie. It's in Tora, Tora, Tora too.

I went to the cemetery to see dad and plant a cheap flag. They will be throwing it away next Monday. I bragged about their great-granddaughter that made the Dean's List again at her University. Very good for a freshman. Mom and dad would have been so proud. That and grilling kept me busy yesterday. I plain forgot to post this.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/104203723/leo-m.-eminger

1st Lt in the US Army Air Forces World War II.

Leo M. Eminger was the son of Paul George Eminger (1870-1965) and Maggie E. Guffey (1872-1944). He was one of at least eleven chlldren, including a twin sister, Cleo.

Leo attended New Mexico State College [a.k.a. NM A&M, now New State University (NMSU) in Las Cruces, NM]. At school (1838 yearbook), he was a member of the Ag club; a pledge to The New Mexico Chapter of Alpha Zeta (an honorary agricultural fraternity); and a corporal in R.O.T.C. Company A, 1st Platoon.

Leo enlisted enlisted in the Air Corps as an Aviation Cadet in the Regular Army on December 31,1940 at Santa Fe, NM: Education: 4 years college. Occupation: Actors & Actresses. Single. Height: 68". Weight: 135 pounds. Subsequently, Leo was a navigator on a flying fortress, and was one of the fliers that landed a plane at Pearl Harbor during the Japanese attack on Dec 7, 1941. Although he survived Pearl Harbor, he went missing in action in the southwest Pacific on September 24, 1942, and was later listed as dead. At the time of his death, Leo M. Eminger was a 1st Lt in the US Army Air Forces. The U.S. Veterans Gravesites, ca. 1775-2006 indicate that Leo is buried in Floyd Cemetery in Floyd, New Mexico 88118. However, the U.S. Rosters of World War II Dead, 1939-1945 state "unrecoverable".

Eminger served with the 11th Bombardment Group, 42nd Bombardment Squadron. On September 24, 1942 he was navigator on B-17E #41-2420, nicknamed 'Bessie the Jap Basher' along with three other bombers on a mission against surface ships at Shortland harbor in the Solomon Islands. They seriously damaged a cargo ship, then came under attack from about twenty Zero fighters. Barker's plane took damage and was last seen descending to sea level with fighters pursuing it. The pilot managed to keep it in the air for 290 miles before finally ditching it off Domo Cove at Guadalcanal.

At least two of the crew (the pilot Captain Charles E Norton and gunner Sgt Bruce Osborne) managed to make it to shore but both later died. The plane's wreckage was located by US forces in 1944 and no bodies were aboard. The fate of the rest of the crew was never determined, and they were all officially declared dead January 7, 1946.

Eminger received the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster and the Purple Heart. Because his body was not recovered, his name is inscribed on the Tablets of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.