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name
BALDWIN, Leon E - Date of
birth
1916 -
Age
unknown - Place of
birth
Washington County, Oregon -
Hometown
Alsea, Benton County, Oregon
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
39311399 -
Rank
Staff Sergeant -
Function
Platoon Sergeant -
Unit
I Company,
3rd Battalion,
504th Parachute Infantry Regiment,
82nd Airborne Division,
2nd Platoon
-
Awards
Silver Star,
Purple Heart
Death
-
Status
Killed in Action - Date of
death
27 September 1944 - Place of
death
Den Heuvel farm, known as "Den Heuvel Woods" near the Wylerbaan
Groesbeek, the Netherlands
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten - Walls of the Missing
Immediate family
-
Members
Arthur Baldwin (father)
Edna B. (Morris) Baldwin (mother)
Trella L. Baldwin (sister)
Bernice I. Baldwin (sister)
Arthur J. Baldwin (brother)
Rosa L. Baldwin (sister)
More information
S/Sgt Leon E. Baldwin enlisted in Portland, Oregon on 24 June 1942.Sgt Baldwin was leading a group of men against an enemy attack when he saw a German infantryman machine gun one of his men. He immediately jumped out of this fox hole, ran against heavy fire, bayonetted the German, threw his aside and turned their own gun on the enemy. The Germans began to fall back and Sgt Baldwin started back to his own lines with 15 prisoners, when an enemy tank bore down on them cutting off from both the prisoners and his own men. He was last seen running into some nearby bush. For this action, he was awarded the Silver Star Medal posthumously.
Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Peter Schouteten, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov - WWII Enlistment Record, www.ancestry.com - 1920/1930 Census
Photo source: www.findagrave.com - Dominic Biello