Leland Kent HORNE
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Source : fold3.com (Ellen Marchese) | |||||
NUMBER OF SERVICE | O-760313 | ||||
AGE | 23 yo | ||||
DATE OF BIRTH |
28 February 1921 Almo, Cassia county, IDAHO | ||||
ENLISTMENT STATE | IDAHO | ||||
FAMILY |
Parents : John T. & Roxie J. HORNE Siblings : Merlin, Theo, 2 other brotherset 3 soeurs | ||||
RANK |
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FONCTION | P-38 fighter pilot | ||||
JOB BEFORE ENLISTEMENT | Lockheed Aircraft Corporation employee | ||||
DATE of ENLISTEMENT | February 1943 | ||||
SQUADRON | 435th Fighter Squadron | ||||
GROUP | 479th Fighter Group | ||||
ARMY | 8th Air Force | ||||
DATE OF DEATH | 19 June 1944 |
Source : Victor DANIEL | |||
STATUS | MIA | ||||
PLACE OF DEATH | Within a radius of 30km around St-Hilaire-de-villefranche | ||||
FLIGHT PLAN |
P-38 Lightning - type J-10-LO - s/n 42-68161 J2* Macr : 5968 | ||||
CEMETERY | RHONE AMERICAN CEMETERY and MEMORIAL of Draguignan | ||||
GRAVE |
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DECORATION |
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STORY | |||||
Leland HORNE is one of 8 siblings born in Almo, IDAHO. In 1926 the family moved to Malta in the same state where the young Leland continued his studies in the local college and high school. He continued his studies at Idaho State University one year after graduating in 1939. His good student qualities will allow him to follow a special course set up by the Federal Government to validate a private pilot license. Back from university, and his license in his pocket, Leland could not find work in his original state and decided to go to California to Los Angeles with his brothers Merlin and Theo on January 1, 1941. | |||||
He worked for 2 years at Lockheed Aircraft Production, until he decided to enlist as a young officer in the Army Air Corps in February 1943. | |||||
Merced Air Base |
He began his initial training at Merced Air Base before continuing with advanced training on the T-6 TEXAN at Williams Field, Arizona. In December 1943 he finally received his rank of 2nd Lieutenant. His hopes of flying on the P-38 Lightning were realized when he was sent to Camp Salinas on 16 December to qualify on the aircraft. He then remained in Oxnard for the next 5 months. Finally the 479th Fighter Group was sent to Britain in May 1944. | ||||
On June 19, despite very disabling weather - heavy cloud cover of 2,000 to 29,000 feet - the squadron was sent on an escort mission over the French west coast. Their mission was to join a group of B-17s aiming to bomb an airfield near Cognac. Because of the clouds no one could identify the target and the bombers decided to return to their base in England. The escort did the same and began a redirection over St-Hilaire-de-villefranche. It was in a turn that the aircraft of the 2Lt. HORNE and Mc CLURE collided, one of the P-38 cutting net the tail of the other. The nearby pilots saw a parachute deploy while the other aircraft continued to fall over the sea. | |||||
Source : Victor Daniel | |||||
Source : SMS |
Source : Jaap Vermeer | ||||
Salt Lake City Cemetery Source : Judie Latshaw Huff |
SOURCE INFORMATION & SOURCE PHOTO | Victor DANIEL - archives.gov - abmc.gov - fr.findagrave.com - fold3.com - francecrashes39-45.net - americanairmuseum.com |
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PROGRAMMER | Eric, Henri, Garrett, Clive, Frédéric & Renaud |