Leon F. Harris was born on October 16, 1923, in Weymouth, Norfolk County, Massachusetts. He graduated from Braintree High School and attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. An accomplished athlete, Harris was an expert gymnast and had been a member of the Braintree High School gymnastics team. He was also an expert rifleman and belonged to both the Braintree Rifle and Pistol Club and the National Rifle Association. He enlisted in the service in January 1943. He later went overseas from Westover Field in Chicopee. He served with the 786th Bomber Squadron, 466th Bomb Group, Heavy, as a Second Lieutenant and Navigator of B-24J #42-51231 during World War II.

On November 5, 1944, B-24J Liberator 42-51231 was returning from an operational mission to AAF Station 120 at Attlebridge, England. Shortly before reaching the airfield, the flight engineer informed pilot Robert D. Nelson that approximately 45 minutes of fuel remained and that he intended to transfer fuel. As the Liberator entered the traffic pattern, engines No. 3 and No. 4 suddenly lost power. The co-pilot switched on the booster pumps, but within seconds all four engines failed. Nelson managed to keep the powerless aircraft under control for a short time, but a crash became unavoidable. The Liberator crashed near Attlebridge, Norfolk, with the loss attributed to a power failure associated with air entering the fuel cross-feed system. Of the ten crewmen aboard, seven were seriously injured, and three were killed.

2Lt Harris was Killed in Action and is now buried in the Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial, Coton, South Cambridgeshire District, Cambridgeshire, England. He also has a cenotaph in the Rock Ridge Cemetery, Sharon, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, USA.

Sources of information: www.findagrave.com, www.crouze.com, www.abmc.gov