John Bernard Leonesio was born at Westfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts on April 15, 1920. He was the youngest of at least six children of Giovanni Battista 'John' Leonesio Sr (13 Aug 1882 – 1958) and Domenica Lena 'Nina' (Pace) Leonesio (5 Jun 1892 – 16 Apr 1937), who were from Province of Brescia, Lombardy, Italy. His parents married about 1911. In 1917 the family home was at 119 Howard Street, Springfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts, and his father was a laborer. By 1918 the family lived at Westfield, Massachusetts, where his father was a machinist for Foster Machine Company, and later for the Dirats Company on North Elm Street.
In April 1940 he lived with his sisters Mary and Ernestina at 11 Union Street in Westfield, Massachusetts, and worked as a machinist in an aircraft factory. He registered for the draft at West Concord, Massachusetts on December 16, 1941. He was 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighed 157 pounds, and had brown eyes and black hair. At that time he lived with his sister Mary M. (Leonesio) Greco (1916 – 2010) and her husband Philip Greco on Gunn Road in Southampton, Hampshire County, Massachusetts, and worked for Dirats Manufacturing Company on North Elm Street in Westfield. He completed four years of high school and worked as a toolmaker, die sinker, or setter. He was single when he enlisted in the U.S. Army at Springfield, Massachusetts on December 12, 1942.
He married after enlisting. His wife was Loretta Mary (Hebert) Leonesio (abt 1918 – unk) of Springfield, Massachusetts. They married at Putnam County, Tennessee on August 8, 1943. Her wartime address was 53 Seventh Street, Springfield, Massachusetts.
He completed Army Air Forces navigator training, and was assigned to the heavy bomber crew of Lt Joseph I. Herring in the 836th Bomb Squadron of the 487th Bomb Group. This Group was based at Army Air Forces Station 137 near Lavenham, Suffolk, England. The Herring crew arrived at Station 137 by September 25, 1944, and became part of the 8th U.S. Army Air Force in Europe.
Lt Leonesio and one of his crewmates were killed in action on November 9, 1944, when their aircraft, B-17G 44-6290, was shot down by flak after bombs away over the railroad marshalling yards at Saarbrucken, Germany. He and the bombardier, Lt Faria, were unable to bail out before the aircraft exploded in the air. Their bodies were found in the nose section of the aircraft, which crashed 500 meters northwest of Illingen, 10 kilometers northwest of Neunkirchen. He and Lt Faria were buried in the cemetery at Wemmetsweiler/Saar. After the war their remains were reinterred at Lorraine American Cemetery in Saint-Avold, France. He also has a cenotaph at Saint Mary Cemetery in Westfield, Massachusetts, and his name is inscribed on the Westfield War Memorial at Parker Memorial Park, Westfield, Massachusetts.
B-17G 44-6290 crew:
• Herring, Joseph I – 2/Lt – Pilot – POW
• Meyer, Richard J – 2/Lt – Copilot – POW
• Leonesio, John B – 2/Lt – Navigator – KIA
• Faria, William R – 2/Lt – Bombardier – KIA
• Fitzhugh, Elda M – S/Sgt – Engineer – POW
• Brown Jr, Charles – S/Sgt – Radio Operator – POW
• Heintz, Daniel J – Sgt – Ball Turret Gunner – POW
• Crawford, Francis P – S/Sgt – Waist Gunner – POW
• Hartman, Edward A – Sgt – Tail Gunner – POW
Source of information: Paul M. Webber, www.findagrave.com, www.abmc.gov