View source for Leon Vance

{{Short description|United States Army Air Force pilot and Medal of Honor recipient (1916–1944)}}
{{About|the World War II pilot|the fictional Director of NCIS|List of NCIS characters#Leon Vance}}
{{Infobox military person
|name= Leon Robert Vance Jr.<ref name="Home">{{Cite web|url=http://www.homeofheroes.com/wings/part2/17_vance.html|title=The Making of a Model Officer|last=Sterner|first=C. Douglas|access-date=2009-05-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180709053919/http://www.homeofheroes.com/wings/part2/17_vance.html|archive-date=2018-07-09|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="HOH citation">{{Cite web|url=http://www.homeofheroes.com/moh/citations_1940_wwii/vance.html|title=MOH Citation for Leon Vance|publisher=Home of Heroes|access-date=2009-05-22}}</ref><ref name="Sooner">{{Cite journal|last=Hudson|first=William C.|date=Fall 2003|title=Brothers In Arms|journal=Sooner Magazine|url=http://www.oufoundation.org/sm/fall2003/thams.asp?ID=82|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090222234833/http://www.oufoundation.org/sm/fall2003/thams.asp?ID=82|archive-date=2009-02-22}}</ref>
|birth_date= {{Birth date|1916|08|11}}<ref name="Home"/><ref name="HOH citation"/>
|death_date= {{Death date and age|1944|07|26|1916|08|11}}<ref name="Home"/>
|birth_place= [[Enid, Oklahoma]], U.S.<ref name="Home"/><ref name="HOH citation"/><ref name="Sooner"/><ref name="Goodfellow">{{Cite web|url=http://www.goodfellow.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123142569|title=Uncommon Valor part two: Lt. Col. Leon Vance|last=Musal|first=Stephen|date=April 2, 2009|publisher=Goodfellow Air Force Base|access-date=2009-05-22|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110527205941/http://www.goodfellow.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123142569|archive-date=May 27, 2011}}</ref>
|death_place= Between [[Iceland]] and [[Dominion of Newfoundland|Newfoundland]]<ref name="Home"/>
|placeofburial= Presumed dead; remains never recovered. Cenotaph in Waukomis Cemetery, [[Waukomis, Oklahoma]] and  listed in the Tables of the Missing, [[Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial]], Coton, [[Cambridge]], England
|placeofburial_label= Memorials
|image= Leon vance.jpg
|medal= cmoh army.jpg
|caption= Lt. Col Leon Vance, Medal of Honor recipient
|nickname= "Bob",<ref name="Home"/><ref name="Sooner"/> "Philo"<ref name="Home"/><ref name="Sooner"/>
|allegiance= {{flag|United States of America}}<ref name="Home"/><ref name="HOH citation"/><ref name="Sooner"/><ref name="Goodfellow"/>
|branch= [[United States Army Air Forces]]<ref name="Home"/><ref name="HOH citation"/><ref name="Sooner"/><ref name="Goodfellow"/>
|serviceyears= 1939–1944<ref name="Home"/><ref name="Sooner"/>
|rank= [[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|Lieutenant Colonel]]<ref name="Home"/><ref name="HOH citation"/><ref name="Goodfellow"/>
|commands=
|unit= [[489th Bombardment Group]]<ref name="Home"/><ref name="Goodfellow"/>
|battles= [[World War II]]<ref name="Home"/><ref name="Sooner"/><ref name="Goodfellow"/>
|awards= [[Medal of Honor]]<ref name="Home"/><ref name="HOH citation"/><ref name="Sooner"/><ref name="Goodfellow"/><br />[[Purple Heart]]<br/>[[Air Medal]]
|laterwork=
}}

'''Leon Robert Vance Jr.''' (August 11, 1916 – July 26, 1944) was a [[Medal of Honor]] recipient who served in the [[United States Army Air Forces]] during [[World War II]].

==Early life and family==
Leon Robert Vance Jr. was born and raised in [[Enid, Oklahoma]]. Vance attended Enid schools from first grade through high school.<ref name="Sooner"/> His father, Leon Robert Vance Sr., was a [[middle school|junior high school]] [[Principal (school)|principal]]<ref name="Home"/><ref name="Sooner"/> and also a civil aviation [[flight instructor]],<ref name="Home"/><ref name="Sooner"/> while his uncle had been an aviator in the [[United States Army Air Service|Army Air Service]] who had been killed in France during [[World War I]].<ref name="Home"/>

Vance was considered an above-average student and a great [[sportsperson|athlete]].<ref name="Home"/><ref name="Sooner"/> His father, as principal, thought of education as having great importance, and this spurred Vance Jr. to challenge himself by taking difficult courses in high school.<ref name="Home"/> He averaged a 94 percent in [[mathematics]].<ref name="Home"/>

Vance attended the [[University of Oklahoma]] for two years,<ref name="Home"/><ref name="Sooner"/> becoming a member of [[Phi Delta Theta]].<ref name="Home"/><ref name="Sooner"/> After his sophomore year, Vance entered the [[United States Military Academy]] on July 1, 1935, as a member of the Class of 1939.<ref name="Home"/><ref name="Sooner"/>
A 1999 article in ''[[U.S. News & World Report]]'' called Vance and his West Point classmates the "Warrior Class" because they were destined to fight in [[World War II]], the [[Korean War]], and the [[Vietnam War]].<ref name="Sooner"/> In his First Class (senior) year, Vance was selected as a cadet sergeant in Company A of the Corps of Cadets. He graduated June 12, 1939, ranked 318th in order of general merit in a class of 456, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant of Infantry.<ref name="usma39">{{cite web| year =2011| url =http://digital-library.usma.edu/libmedia/archives/oroc/v1939.pdf| title =Official Register of the Officers and Cadets United States Military Academy For the Academic Year Ending June 30, 1939| publisher =USMA Digital Library| access-date =2011-05-15| url-status =dead| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20110728173001/http://digital-library.usma.edu/libmedia/archives/oroc/v1939.pdf| archive-date =July 28, 2011}}</ref>

While training at [[Mitchel Air Force Base|Mitchel Field]] on Long Island, Vance met [[Garden City, New York|Garden City]] resident, Georgette Drury Brown. They married the day after his graduation from West Point and had a daughter, Sharon, born in 1942. Vance would later name his assigned aircraft ''The Sharon D.'' after his daughter.<ref>{{cite book |first=Robert F. |last=Dorr| title=Mission to Berlin: The American Airmen Who Struck the Heart of Hitler's Reich| url=https://archive.org/details/missiontoberlina0000dorr| url-access=registration| publisher=Zenith Press| isbn= 978-0-7603-3898-8 | year=2011| page= [https://archive.org/details/missiontoberlina0000dorr/page/144 144] }}</ref>

==Military service==
Vance requested pilot training and completed Basic School  at the Spartan School of Aeronautics in Tulsa. On September 13, 1939, he was assigned to [[Randolph Field]], [[Texas]] for Primary flight training, graduating the following March, and then to nearby [[Kelly Field]] for Advanced Flight School, where he graduated with Class 40C, earning his wings on June 21, 1940. Vance was also recommissioned as a first lieutenant, [[United States Army Air Corps|Air Corps]].<ref name="Home"/><ref name="iaffs"/> He served as an instructor until February 1941, when he was transferred to [[Goodfellow Air Force Base|Goodfellow Army Air Field]] in [[San Angelo, Texas]], and assigned to command the 49th School Squadron. He was at Goodfellow when the United States entered World War II in December 1941, was promoted to captain on April 6 and major on July 17, and remained in command of his basic flight training squadron until reassigned to [[Strother Field|Strother AAF]], Kansas, in December 1942 as Director of Flying. While at Goodfellow, [[Horace Carswell]] and [[Jack W. Mathis|Jack Mathis]] (then an enlisted clerk), both of whom would subsequently receive the Medal of Honor posthumously, served in Vance's squadron. Vance was promoted to [[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|lieutenant colonel]] in September 1943, after little more than four years' service.<ref name="ene20090823">{{Cite news|url=http://www.enidnews.com/localnews/local_story_235234312.html|title=Enid native Vance to be inducted into military hall of fame |date=August 23, 2009|work=[[Enid News & Eagle]]|access-date=2009-08-24}}</ref>

[[File:846bs-b24-42-94860--halesworth.jpg|thumb|B-24H Liberator of the 489th Bomb Group on a hardstand at RAF Halesworth]]
After transition training to the [[Consolidated B-24 Liberator]], Vance was assigned in December 1943 to the [[489th Bombardment Group]] at [[Wendover Air Force Base|Wendover AAF]], [[Utah]], as Deputy Group Commander. The group completed its training and prepared for overseas movement in April 1944, one of the last heavy bombardment groups to be assigned to the [[Eighth Air Force]]. The group was assigned to the [[95th Combat Bombardment Wing]] of the [[2d Air Division|2nd Bomb Division]] and based at [[RAF Halesworth]]. Vance led the group on its first combat mission, bombing the [[Luftwaffe]] airfield at [[Oldenburg (city)|Oldenburg]], [[Germany]], on May 30, 1944.<ref name="ene20090823"/>

==Medal of Honor mission==
On June 5, 1944, Vance was assigned to lead the 489th BG on a diversionary attack against [[Nazi Germany|German]] coastal defenses near [[Wimereux]], [[France]], in the [[Pas-de-Calais]], to support the anticipated [[Normandy Landings|D-Day landings]]. The group had lost six bombers on a mission to bomb [[Brétigny-sur-Orge Air Base|Brétigny Airfield]] near [[Paris]] on June 2 (Vance did not participate), partly as a consequence of attempting to bomb visually in poor weather conditions.<ref>{{cite book
| author=Roger A. Freeman| title=The Mighty Eighth: A History of the Units, Men, and Machines of the US 8th Air Force| publisher=Motorbooks International| isbn= 0-87938-638-X| year=1991| pages=144–145}}</ref> As a result, the lead aircraft of the 489th's formation on June 5 was a Pathfinder Force (PFF) [[H2X radar|"Mickey"]] B-24 detached from the [[44th Operations Group|44th Bomb Group]]'s [[66th Missile Squadron|66th Bomb Squadron]] to enable the group to bomb through overcast using "blind bombing" tactics.<ref>The aircraft was B-24H 41-28690, with Capt. Louis A. Mazure as aircraft commander. The nickname of the aircraft is disputed, being either ''Missouri Belle'' or ''Missouri Sue''.</ref> Vance positioned himself on the bomber's flight deck, standing behind the aircraft commander and co-pilot.<ref>{{harvnb|Dorr|2011|p=142}}</ref>

After an 0900 takeoff, the group assembled its formation and climbed to its assigned {{convert|22500|ft|abbr=on}} altitude for the short flight to the French coast. The group approached the target area from the south but the bombs of the lead aircraft failed to release, and as a result none of the group bombed. Vance decided to make a second pass over the target rather than jettison the bombs into the [[English Channel]], but as the formation approached the target a second time, it came under intense [[Anti-aircraft warfare|anti-aircraft]] fire ("flak"). The lead B-24 immediately sustained heavy battle damage. It continued the bomb run, however, and toggled its ordnance, but was further damaged by multiple flak bursts. In all, four crewmen were wounded, three of the four engines were disabled, and fuel lines ruptured in the fuselage. In addition, one of the aircraft's bombs again failed to release. Immediately after bomb release, shrapnel from a final burst killed the aircraft commander and wounded Vance, nearly severing his right foot, which became wedged in cockpit framework behind the copilot's seat. In the chaos that followed, comments on the interphone led Vance to believe that the crew's radio operator, wounded in the legs, was too seriously injured to be evacuated.<ref>{{harvnb|Dorr|2011|pp=143–144}}</ref>

The B-24 lost altitude rapidly after the pilot was killed, but the wounded copilot regained controlled flight, preventing a stall by putting it into a steep glide to maintain airspeed. Despite shock from his own wound, Vance was able to assist the copilot in "[[propeller (aircraft)#Feathering|feathering]]" the propellers, shutting down the over-strained fourth engine, and optimizing the glide of the crippled aircraft. The crew's "Mickey" operator, 2nd Lt. Bernard W. Bail, tried to dislodge Vance's pinned foot and applied a makeshift [[tourniquet]].<ref>{{harvnb|Dorr|2011|p=145}}</ref>

When the B-24 reached the English coast, it was too damaged to land safely. Vance ordered the crew to "bail out," and after most had complied, took the controls and turned the aircraft back over the channel, where the remainder parachuted into the sea. He decided to attempt a [[water landing]] in the belief that the injured radio operator was still on the aircraft, even though B-24s were notoriously ill-suited for "ditching."<ref>{{cite book
| author=Jeffrey L. Ethell| title=Aircraft of World War II| publisher=Harper Collins| isbn= 0-00-470849-0| year=1995| page=215}}</ref> From a semi-prone position over the power plant controls island between the crew seats, Vance flew the bomber mainly by use of [[aileron]]s and [[Elevator (aeronautics)|elevator]]s, keeping a visual reference through the side window of the cockpit. Although the Liberator survived the ditching largely intact, its dorsal gun turret collapsed and pinned Vance inside the flooded cockpit as the bomber sank. An explosion blew him clear of the wreckage, however, and he was eventually able to inflate his [[personal flotation device#Mae West|Mae West]]. After searching for the radio operator, Vance swam towards shore. He was finally picked up by an [[Air-sea rescue|RAF Air-Sea Rescue]] launch after fifty minutes.<ref name="ene20090823"/><ref>{{harvnb|Dorr|2011|p=146}}</ref><ref name="citation">{{Cite web|url=http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/wwII-t-z.html |title=Medal of Honor recipients – World War II (T–Z) |date=August 3, 2009 |publisher=[[United States Army Center of Military History]] |access-date=2009-08-24 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091231211059/http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/wwII-t-z.html |archive-date=December 31, 2009 }}</ref>

==Death==
Nearly two months later, after receiving medical treatment in the United Kingdom, Vance was sent back to the United States on a [[Douglas C-54 Skymaster|C-54 Skymaster]] transport for further treatment and possible fitting of a [[prosthesis|prosthetic]] foot. The C-54 with all aboard [[List of aerial disappearances|disappeared]] on July 26, 1944, and was presumed to have crashed into the [[Atlantic Ocean]] between [[Iceland]] and [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]].<ref name="ene20090823"/><ref name=ASN>{{cite web|last=Ranter|first=Harro|author2=Lujan, Fabian I. |url=http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19440726-0 |title=ASN Aircraft accident Douglas C-54A-5-DO 41-107470 Greenland |year=2006 |access-date=2011-06-27}}</ref><ref>[http://airforce.togetherweserved.com/usaf/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?cmd=ShadowBoxProfile&type=Person&ID=106316 Together we served]</ref> The recommendation that he be awarded the Medal of Honor was confirmed in orders on January 4, 1945, but his widow requested that the awards ceremony be delayed until the medal could be presented to their daughter. On October 11, 1946, Major General James P. Hodges, commander of the 2nd Bomb Division when Vance was assigned to it, made the presentation to Sharon Vance, age 3½, at [[Vance Air Force Base|Enid Army Air Base]].<ref name="iaffs">{{cite web|year=2011 |url=http://www.af.mil/information/heritage/person.asp?dec=&pid=123101309 |title=Lt. Col. Leon "Bob" Vance |publisher=Inside AF.mil |access-date=2011-05-18 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121212204207/http://www.af.mil/information/heritage/person.asp?dec=&pid=123101309 |archive-date=2012-12-12 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=dmdldgt>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=F3ZWAAAAIBAJ&pg=6914%2C4311234 |work=Spokesman-Review |location=(Spokane, Washington) |title=Dad's medal goes to daughter |agency=(AP wirephoto) |date=October 15, 1946 |page=2}}</ref>

==Awards and honors==
{| style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"
|-
|colspan="3"|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=oak|ribbon=USAAF_Wings.png|width=205|alt=}}
|-
|colspan="3"|{{Ribbon devices|number=|type=oak|ribbon=Medal_of_Honor_ribbon.svg|width=110}}
|-
|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=oak|ribbon=Purple_Heart_ribbon.svg|width=110}}
|{{ribbon devices|number=|type=oak|other_device= |ribbon=Air Medal ribbon.svg|width=110}}
|{{Ribbon devices|number=|type=service-star|ribbon=American Defense Service Medal ribbon.svg|width=110}}
|-
|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=service-star|ribbon=American Campaign Medal ribbon.svg|width=110}}
|{{Ribbon devices|number=2|type=service-star|ribbon=European-African-Middle_Eastern_Campaign_ribbon.svg|width=110}}
|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=service-star|ribbon=World War II Victory Medal ribbon.svg|width=110}}
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"
|-
|colspan="3"|[[United States Aviator Badge|Army Air Forces Pilot Badge]]
|-
|colspan="3"|[[Medal of Honor]]
|-
|[[Purple Heart]]
|[[Air Medal]]
|[[American Defense Service Medal]]
|-
|[[American Campaign Medal]]
|[[European–African–Middle Eastern Campaign Medal]]<br>with two bronze [[campaign star]]s
|[[World War II Victory Medal]]
|-
|}

{| style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"
|-
|colspan="3"|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=oak|ribbon=United States Army and U.S. Air Force Presidential Unit Citation ribbon.svg|width=110|alt=}}
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"
|-
|colspan="3"|[[Presidential Unit Citation (United States)|Army Presidential Unit Citation]]
|-
|}

===Medal of Honor citation===
;Vance, Leon Robert
;Rank and organization: Lieutenant Colonel, Air Corps, 489th Bombardment Group (H)
;Place and date: Over Wimereux. France, June 5, 1944
;Entered service at: Garden City, New York
;Born: August 11, 1916, Enid, Oklahoma
;General Orders No. 1, January 4, 1945
;Citation:

<blockquote>For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty on 5 June 1944, when he led a Heavy Bombardment Group, in an attack against defended enemy coastal positions in the vicinity of Wimereaux, France. Approaching the target, his aircraft was hit repeatedly by antiaircraft fire which seriously crippled the ship, killed the pilot, and wounded several members of the crew, including Lt. Col. Vance, whose right foot was practically severed. In spite of his injury, and with 3 engines lost to the flak, he led his formation over the target, bombing it successfully. After applying a tourniquet to his leg with the aid of the radar operator, Lt. Col. Vance, realizing that the ship was approaching a stall altitude with the 1 remaining engine failing, struggled to a semi-upright position beside the copilot and took over control of the ship. Cutting the power and feathering the last engine he put the aircraft in glide sufficiently steep to maintain his airspeed. Gradually losing altitude, he at last reached the English coast, whereupon he ordered all members of the crew to bail out as he knew they would all safely make land. But he received a message over the interphone system which led him to believe 1 of the crew members was unable to jump due to injuries; so he made the decision to ditch the ship in the channel, thereby giving this man a chance for life. To add further to the danger of ditching the ship in his crippled condition, there was a 500-pound bomb hung up in the bomb bay. Unable to climb into the seat vacated by the copilot, since his foot, hanging on to his leg by a few tendons, had become lodged behind the copilot's seat, he nevertheless made a successful ditching while lying on the floor using only aileron and elevators for control and the side window of the cockpit for visual reference. On coming to rest in the water the aircraft commenced to sink rapidly with Lt. Col. Vance pinned in the cockpit by the upper turret which had crashed in during the landing. As it was settling beneath the waves an explosion occurred which threw Lt. Col. Vance clear of the wreckage. After clinging to a piece of floating wreckage until he could muster enough strength to inflate his life vest he began searching for the crewmember whom he believed to be aboard. Failing to find anyone he began swimming and was found approximately 50 minutes later by an Air-Sea Rescue craft. By his extraordinary flying skill and gallant leadership, despite his grave injury, Lt. Col. Vance led his formation to a successful bombing of the assigned target and returned the crew to a point where they could bail out with safety. His gallant and valorous decision to ditch the aircraft in order to give the crewmember he believed to be aboard a chance for life exemplifies the highest traditions of the U.S. Armed Forces.<ref name="citation"/></blockquote>

===Other honors===
The airbase in his hometown of Enid, Oklahoma, was renamed [[Vance Air Force Base]] in his honor on July 9, 1949.<ref name="ene20090823"/> He was further honored when Gate 40 of [[Tinker Air Force Base]], Oklahoma, was renamed "Vance Gate" on May 9, 1997.<ref name="tinker">{{cite web| last =Toenjes| first =Crystal| year =2005| url =http://www.turnbullclan.com/tca_genealogy/tca_all2-o/exhibits/taking_a_look_at_the_names_behind_tinker.pdf| title =Taking a look at the names behind Tinker's gates| work =Tinker Take Off| publisher =Turnball Clan| access-date =2011-05-18| url-status =dead| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20110717113531/http://www.turnbullclan.com/tca_genealogy/tca_all2-o/exhibits/taking_a_look_at_the_names_behind_tinker.pdf| archive-date =2011-07-17}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography}}
* [[List of Medal of Honor recipients]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{findagrave|176207786}} – [[cenotaph]] in Waukomis Cemetery, Oklahoma
* {{findagrave|8111160}} – Name listing at the [[Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial]], England

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vance, Leon}}
[[Category:1916 births]]
[[Category:1940s missing person cases]]
[[Category:1944 deaths]]
[[Category:Aviators from Oklahoma]]
[[Category:Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Enid, Oklahoma]]
[[Category:Missing aviators]]
[[Category:People lost at sea]]
[[Category:Shot-down aviators]]
[[Category:United States Army Air Forces Medal of Honor recipients]]
[[Category:United States Army Air Forces colonels]]
[[Category:United States Army Air Forces personnel killed in World War II]]
[[Category:United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II]]
[[Category:United States Military Academy alumni]]
[[Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1944]]
[[Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in international waters]]
[[Category:World War II recipients of the Medal of Honor]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Air Medal]]
[[Category:Enid High School alumni]]
[[Category:Phi Delta Theta members]]