United States Army officer who received the U.S. military’s highest award, the Medal of Honor, for his actions in World War II.
Commissioned in 1942 via the ROTC program at Texas A&M, Leonard was serving as a platoon leader in Company C, 893rd Tank Destroyer Battalion, which was attached in October 1944 to support the 112th Infantry Regiment of the 28th Infantry Division during that unit’s assault on the Siegfried Line through the Hürtgen Forest area along the German-Belgian border.
Between 4 and 6 November 1944, Leonard’s company was heavily engaged in the fighting in and around the village of Kommerscheidt west of Schmidt. Throughout the three days, he repeatedly exposed himself to hostile fire. When all officers of the infantry unit his platoon was supporting became incapacitated, Leonard assumed command. Already seriously wounded in the arm on the first day, he refused medical evacuation to remain with his troops. On 6 November, a mortar round severed the remainder of his arm, and forced him to report to the aid station. Leonard was left behind with the other seriously wounded in the hopes that the Germans, who were about to overrun the American positions, would provide medical care, but he ordered the medic to place him in a concealed foxhole with a weapon, explaining that he did not want to be taken prisoner.
His remains were found after the War in a field grave dug by the Germans. On 1 September 1945, Leonard posthumously received the Medal of Honor.
Link to Wikipedia biography