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First Name: Leo

Last Name: Meyer

Birthplace: NYC, NY, USA

Gender: Male

Branch: Army (1784 - present)



Home of Record: NYC, NY
Middle Name: John



Date of Birth: 06 October 1917

Date of Death: 12 January 2006

Rank: Colonel

Years Served: 33
Leo J Meyer
'Leo'

   
Engagements:
•  World War II (1941 - 1945)
•  Korean War (1950 - 1953)
•  Vietnam War (1960 - 1973)

Biography:

Colonel Meyer was posthumously inducted into the U.S. Army Officer Candidate School Hall of Fame, Ft Benning, GA. on March 27, 2009.

But before that…

New York National Guard

In 1935 Leo Meyer joined the New York National Guard Cadet Corps and began attending drill as a drummer in the Regimental Field Music (Band), with the 102nd Engineers in Manhattan and as a mounted trooper with Squadron 'C', 101st Cavalry in Brooklyn. In October 1937 he enlisted into Company "B", 102nd Engineer Regiment, but maintained his status in the NYNG Cadet Corps to continue with the cavalry. By May 1940 he was a corporal with the 102nd Engineers and when called to active duty with the 102nd, he ended his NYNGCC association.

Federalized

In October 1940 the 102nd Engineer Regiment, 27th Division, New York National Guard, was called to active federal service by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The division moved from New York to Fort McClellan, Alabama for training. Specifically, the 102d Engineer Regiment marched to the train, seven blocks down 34th Street to Pennsylvania Station while the band played Al Jolson hits like Toot Toot Tootsie Good Bye and Alabamy Bound. During the next fourteen months the division participated in maneuver exercises in Tennessee, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Alabama. Meyer was assigned duties as 'B' Company Clerk (Cpl) and Company Supply Sergeant (Sgt), 1st Battalion and Regimental Message Center Chief (S/Sgt), and 1st Battalion and Regimental Sergeant Major (M/Sgt). In November 1941, five weeks after his 24th birthday and two days after becoming the Regiment's Sergeant Major, Meyer reenlisted as a Regular Army master sergeant. Twenty-five days later after the 7 December attack on Pearl Harbor the United States declared war on Japan on 8 December 1941. On 9 December Germany and Italy declared war on the United States. On 14 December 1941 the 27th Division was deployed to California and by early March to the Territory of Hawaii in the Pacific Theater of Operations.

WW II

From November 1941 to November 1942 Meyer served as 102nd Engineer Regimental Sergeant Major in Alabama and the re-designated 102nd Engineer (Combat) Battalion Sergeant Major in the Pacific Theater of Operations. In March 1943 he graduated from the U.S. Army Air Forces Officer Candidate School in Miami Beach, Florida. After commissioning, Lieutenant Meyer was assigned to the 26th College Training Detachment, Mt. Union College in Alliance, Ohio. In May 1944 Meyer transferred to Childress Army Air Field, Texas. After several months involved with preparing air crewman to fight in the war, Meyer volunteered for the Infantry and was sent to Fort Benning for basic infantry officer training. Later, during a cadre assignment at the 60th Infantry Replacement Training Center (IRTC), Camp Blanding, Florida, he volunteered for another combat zone tour.

Historians have paid little attention to combat near the end of WWII in the Philippines after Leyte, Mindoro, and Luzon. The battle for the island of Mindanao during Operation VICTOR V in the Southern Philippines Campaign was some of the most horrific combat under the most insufferable weather and terrain conditions of the War in the Pacific. In June 1945 1stLt Leo Meyer was serving in Company "A", 34th Infantry, 24th Infantry Division on Mindanao. Meyer earned his first Combat Infantryman Badge, two Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart.

Post War

In 1946 after serving in occupied Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan, Captain Meyer 'mustered out' of the Army and returned to civilian life. He enlisted in the Organized Reserve Corps and by June 1947 he was back on active duty as a Regular Army master sergeant. While working as an instructor with 1242nd ASU, HQ New York District, Organized Reserve Corps he received his high school GED and applied for the Regular Army Warrant Officer Program and simultaneously, reinstatement of his Army of the United States officer's commission. He received both and put the warrant acceptance in his hip pocket and reinstated as a First Lieutenant.

Reactivation

He was assigned to the HQ 7th U.S. Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Devens, Massachusetts. He served in the 3rd Battalion 7th Infantry in Korea earning his second Combat Infantryman Badge and Purple Heart with Task Force Dog which relieved 1st Battalion 1st Marines to join the fight supporting the retreating 1st Marine Division;s movement back to the beach during the final days of the battle of the Chosin Reservoir.

Post War Again

Post Korea assignments were as an advisor to the Massachusetts National Guard in Quincy, Massachusetts; Sub-area Staff Officer, Western Region, USAREUR in Bad Kreuznach, Germany; Operations Officer at the Army Disciplinary Barracks in New Cumberland, Pennsylvania; and Post Operations Staff Officer, Fort Dix, New Jersey.

Retire or Reversion to Regular Army

In 1961 Major Meyer reached 20 years active federal service and mandatory retirement for reserve officers on the active duty list. He was not ready to hang up the uniform and pulled his Regular Army Warrant Officer acceptance letter from his hip pocket and reverted to Chief Warrant Officer 4.

As a Warrant Officer he was assigned as an Intelligence Technician in Military Intelligence, Counter Intelligence Corps. From 1961 to 1968 Meyer served in the 1st US Army Support Group New York City, New York; 108th Intelligence Corps Group Camden, New Jersey; 401st Counter Intelligence Corps Detachment Honolulu, Hawaii; and the 116th Military Intelligence Group Washington, D. C. In 1967 he received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Military Science from the University of Maryland. In 1968 he was assigned temporary duty in the Office of the Secretary of the Defence for Intelligence to update/re-write DoD security regulations. Also in 1968 he volunteered again for service in a combat zone.

Too Old For What?

As many of his Korean War friends were now brigade commanders or general officers serving in combat; Leo Meyer felt he too should continue to contribute and volunteered for combat. In 1968 Chief Warrant Officer 4 Meyer was assigned to Headquarters, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), 1st Special Forces, in Nha Trang, Vietnam. In his 27th year in the active Army and at age 51, Meyer graduated from the RVN Special Forces parachute school, earning his jump wings and Green Beret. He earned his 3rd Combat Infantryman Badge for action in support of Operation Toan Thang II, seek and destroy mission in the Rung Sat Special Zone with the 5th Mobile Strike Force B55. In March 1969, while in Vietnam, he was promoted to Colonel in the Army Reserve.

And then... Retirement

From 1969 to 1971 CWO4 Meyer was assigned to 109th Military Intelligence Group at Ft Meade, Md and in Washington, D.C. with the 116th Military Intelligence Group where he served as the Acting Group Executive Officer. In 1971, at the end of more than 33 years in an Army uniform, he retired as a Colonel.

Individual and Unit Awards:

Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB) 3rd award; Soldier's Medal; Bronze Star Medal 3rd award; Purple Heart 2nd award; Meritorious Service Medal; Air Medal; Joint Services Commendation Medal; Army Commendation Medal 3rd award; Navy Commendation Medal with combat V; Good Conduct Medal; American Defense Service Medal; American Campaign Medal; Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/3Battle Stars; World War II Victory Medal; Army of Occupation Medal (Japan); National Defense Service Medal 2nd award; Korean Service Medal w/4 Battle Stars; Vietnam Service Medal w/3 Battle Stars; Armed Forces Reserve Medal w/Gold Hour Glass (3rd award); Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry Medal w/Bronze Star; Philippine Liberation Ribbon w/Bronze Service Star; United Nations Service Medal; Vietnam Campaign Medal; Republic of Korea War Service Medal; U.S. Parachutist Badge; Vietnamese Special Forces Parachutist Badge; Distinguished Unit Citation for the battle of SEGOK (unit award); Meritorious Unit Commendation (unit award); Philippine Presidential Unit Citation (unit award); Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation (unit award); Vietnam Cross of Gallantry w/Palm (unit award); Vietnam Civil Actions Medal 1st Class (unit award)



Honoree ID: 320687   Created by: JeffMeyer

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